Ark: Survival Ascended announces full roadmap, paid DLC, and ‘surprises’

The full roadmap for Ark: Survival Ascended has been announced with a wealth of content spread until 2025—though the news did come along with an initial delay.

Scorched Earth, the first DLC map for Ark: Survival Ascended, was due to be released alongside the game’s launch before being pushed back to December 2023, but now players will have to wait until March 2024 for the map.

That said, there’s further content coming to Ark: Survival Ascended that we didn’t previously know about, including new paid DLCs that introduce player skins, new crafting items, and more. This is a new concept for the Ark series, where the paid-for DLC focused on new maps. All maps are, however, included as standard in Ark: Survival Ascended.

A sneak peek at the first bunch of DLC goodies, which will be available to purchase when Scorched Earth drops, revealed cowboy-style looks that can be applied to skins, while the new content in the first pack will also include trains, wagons, and an exclusive creature.

After Scorched Earth releases, players can expect a relatively quick turnaround until the next map, with The Center scheduled for May 2024, followed by Aberration in July 2024, Ragnarok in September 2024, Extinction in October 2024, and Valguero in December 2024. On top of this, a “surprise” has been announced for November 2024.

Heading into 2025, players will receive Genesis Part One in February 2025, Crystal Isles in April 2025, Genesis Part Two in May 2025, Lost Island in August 2025, and Fjordur in October 2025. Details on the next canon expansions are listed as TBA.

New content is coming more immediately, however, with the Survival of the Fittest game mode slated to launch on Dec. 20, 2023, across all platforms, while Cyropods will also be added in December 2023, and there’s also a Krampus skin that will be available during the Winter Wonderland event.

Of course, all dates are subject to change, and, given how the release of Ark: Survival Ascended has panned out, I’d be surprised if there weren’t any further delays.