‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Xbox One Release Imminent, Dinosaur Survival Game Coming To Consoles

Dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Evolved have been tromping around on PC gaming rigs since it was released as part of the Steam Early Access program in June. Xbox One owners may get the prehistoric sci-fi survival game next, as developer Studio Wildcard announced late Wednesday night the release of the game on Microsoft’s console was “imminent.”

Studio Wildcard made the announcement in a Q&A post on the ARK: Survival Evolved Steam forums for the game.

“We’ve been incredibly occupied lately with preparing this week’s content update, as well as preparing for our imminent release of ‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ on the Xbox One,” the developer wrote before answering various fan questions.

The game is currently scheduled for a full release for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC in June, 2016. That means the “imminent release” will be part of Microsoft’s early access program for the Xbox One, called the Game Preview program. This allows developers to release and sell games on the console before they are final. An “imminent release” likely means December or January at the latest for early access on the Xbox One.

ARK: Survival Evolved is currently available for $30 on Steam and has sold more than 2 million copies to date. The appeal of a dinosaur survival game where you can tame and ride the prehistoric beasts is obvious. Still, the Early Access launch of the PC version of the game benefitted from being near Jurassic World, but has shown it can stand on its own two (or four) legs.

The initial release of ARK: Survival Evolved was marked by a rough performance befitting what was essentially the alpha version of the game. Studio Wildcard has released multiple updates to the title since then, however, and the performance has improved along with the gameplay features and the number of dinosaurs available in the game world.

As common with survival games, ARK players will wake up on an island with other humans (naked, of course). They then must hunt, harvest, craft, research technology, and build shelters to protect from themselves from the environment, creatures, and other players.

ARK allows players to form tribes and build bases that can share resources among the group as they level up and learn new skills and technology. They can eventually learn to domesticate the dinosaurs on the island, but just don’t expect to tame large beasts like the T-Rex from the start. Players will start small and work their way up to the bigger dinosaurs.

There are currently around 50 dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts in ARK so far, with more planned in upcoming releases. The list so far includes the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, Velociraptor, Stegosaurus, Carnotaurus, Mosasaurus, and Ankylosaur, Sabertooth Tiger. Non-dinosaur prehistoric beasts include the Dodo Bird, Megalodon, giant crocodile, giant scorpion, Dire Wolf, and even a dragon.

The Xbox One Game Preview program has already seen several titles made available including Elite Dangerous, and the just released The Long Dark. Bohemia Interactive’s zombie survival game, DayZ, is also expected to shamble on to the Xbox One, but its release to the Game Preview program was recently delayed to 2016 (via Yahoo ).

The open world survival genre is extremely popular in PC, with multiple game releases. They have not made the leap to consoles just yet, though there are plans for several, including Project Knoxville from Press Play, which is in early alpha testing on the Xbox One. ARK: Survival Evolved should make an interesting test to see how console gamers take to the genre.

What do you think of ARK: Survival Evolved hitting the Xbox One as part of the Game Preview program? Sound off in the comments below.