‘Unoptimized mess’: Ark: Survival Ascended players left disappointed by early access launch

Ark: Survival Ascended launched in early access on Steam today, Oct. 26, but players aren’t happy.

Steam reviews are currently labeled as “mixed” shortly after launch. Players mention optimization issues that make the game nearly unplayable, except if they opt for minimal graphic settings.

Even players who recommend the game are complaining about the game’s glaring issues. “Feels like 2015 all over again: single digit frame rates and bodies disappearing into the ground geometry. I am giddy with nostalgia,” one player said in a Steam review. “RTX 3080 and can only get 50fps on LOW settings, this is in no way, shape or form a better game,” another noted.

The Ark sequel has been described as an upgrade of the previous title due to being developed on Unreal Engine 5, the “next-generation of videogame technology.”

The artwork and worlds were also “recreated and redesigned,” with new dynamic Global Illumination, dynamic water, and advanced mesh streaming to enhance the game’s quality.

But for now, the game doesn’t seem to have hit the mark. Optimization concerns aside, Ark’s early access release is having a rocky start due to technical issues. The fault servers have already been victim to crashes, according to reports.

To add insult to injury, players have discovered an exploit that allows them to abuse admin powers. “We’re working on a fix for this now, among some other issues (crashes) and we’ll be rolling out a server update to resolve both of this,” the game’s support said. “This update will also wipe all existing Official Server saves… and we’ll be launching with some additional servers.”

The developer is now working on hotfixes to fix all the various issues. If that’s not bad enough, Ark: Survival Ascended has been delayed until November on console due to “critical issues.”