The second ARK: Survival Evolved expansion, Aberration , received a new release date for the second time on Wednesday. Developer Studio Wildcard also announced another new release date for the Windows 10 Play Anywhere release of the open-world survival title, with a few caveats, plus the first new release date for the turret overhaul.
Aberration
The Aberration expansion now has a December 12 release date for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions of ARK: Survival Evolved . It was originally scheduled for an October 31 launch before being delayed to an unspecified November date and now into the final month of 2017.
As previously covered , the Aberration expansion is set on a derelict ARK primarily in caves and caverns below the surface due to a toxic atmosphere filled with both gas and radiation from the nearby sun. The map will continue with the story established by the current end-game added to the title when it was officially released in August.
There are a number of new animals and items being added with the expansion. The big gameplay change is that flying is not allowed. Players will be able to use a wingsuit to glide and use zip lines to move around quickly without the aid of tamed creatures.
Speaking of which, players will not be able to transfer existing ARK: Survival Evolved creatures to the Aberration map, but will be able to transfer the new creatures to the current four maps.
Play Anywhere
The Play Anywhere release of ARK: Survival Evolved will come alongside the Aberration launch on December 12. Windows 10 PC users who already own the Xbox One version of the game will be able to download it for free.
Crossplay between Windows 10 and Xbox One will be limited to unofficial servers and non-dedicated servers. This is due to Studio Wildcard needing more time to implement Microsoft’s anti-cheat service, Trueplay.
The Play Anywhere release will also allow ARK: Survival Evolved users to build and operate their unofficial servers instead of renting them or attempt to use an Xbox One console as a host.
Turret Changes
As previously covered, the backlash to proposed turret changes in ARK: Survival Evolved caused more changes, which has now created a delay in the implementation. The new “Heavy Turret” will be released to the PC version of the game on November 27. This will come with a turret-limit in effect to prevent players from adding Heavy Turrets that will place them over the new 100-turrets-per-100-meters limit.
The new turret limit will be in full effect when Aberration launches on December 12, but the other four maps will have a little more time before Studio Wildcard adds the limit there as well. The console plan is to have PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players receive the Heavy Turret with the expansion launch and receive the final turret limit sometime after the PC.
[Featured Image by Studio Wildcard]
