Ark: Survival Ascended’s planned Xbox and Windows launch has been pushed back to “later this week” after another delay, though fans feel they’ve heard it all before.
An Xbox release of the remaster of 2015’s Ark: Survival Evolved was initially slated to drop in Oct. 2023 alongside both PC and PlayStation 5, but console launches were then pushed back to November due to “critical issues.”
It seemed Xbox players would be getting the better end of the deal, though, as a release date was set for Nov. 14, while PlayStation 5 players were given a late November window, but bad news was issued just hours before the planned Xbox launch.
With the game said to still be going through the certification process on Xbox, a Nov. 14 release would not be happening after all—but fans were assured it was still expected a launch would occur “later this week.”
However, fans feel they’ve heard it all before and Ark’s Discord continues to be flooded with complaints from players, while others on Reddit expressed doubt there wouldn’t be any further delays.
One player said “no one is surprised” by the latest delay and that it was “inevitable,” while another was concerned there would be a “horrendous console launch” given the apparent issues in receiving certification.
When Ark launched on PC, it was criticized as an “unoptimized mess” by players, and server stability continues to be a problem for many—which is concerning given a fresh batch of players will be joining when the Xbox launch does occur.
Whether Xbox gamers can finally dive in this week remains to be seen, but I’m certainly not holding my breath. Even if it does occur, I’m among those expecting there to be teething issues with the game and crossplay.
