Wildcard recently launched a new expansion for "Ark: Survival Evolved." Titled "Scorched Earth," the paid DLC was introduced on Sept. 1, 2016, described as the single biggest update in the game's 14-month development cycle.
The "Ark: Survival Evolved" Scorched Earth expansion delivers a completely new map, new weapons, ecosystems and resources, at a retail price of $19.99. However, several "Ark: Survival Evolved" gamers were upset that Wildcard is releasing a premium expansion, while the main game remains incomplete in Early Access. Gamasutra noted that majority of the reviews for "Ark: Survival Evolved" in the past weeks have been generally negative. Many felt that Wildcard took advantage by selling them an unfinished main game, and subsequently selling an expansion without responding to initial comments.
A Wildcard employee actually responded to the negative comments, lashing out that their efforts were unappreciated. The employee has since apologized for the statements. VG247 reported that community manager Jat explained in a blog post the reasons why they suddenly launched the "Ark: Survival Evolved" expansion. He also assured fans that they are still dedicated in developing the main game. Jat stated that Wildcard is constantly creating ways to make "Ark: Survival Evolved" a better game. Gamer feedback allows them to continually expand the game.
Jat wrote that their original vision for "Ark: Survival Evolved" always included the creation of expansions, together with infrastructure and technical systems to dynamically transfer data between live "Arks." Wildcard determined that it is ideal to focus on the systems during Early Access than after the retail release, since there are huge risks if they did not create the main game properly.
They featured the "Ark: Survival Evolved" expansion early so they can also easily integrate future expansions into the network. He continued that they already have prepared systems that will offer support for upcoming expansions. They expect minimal integration problems with future DLC after the official launch of "Ark: Survival Evolved" using the current approach.
"Ark: Survival Evolved" currently has an overall rating of "mostly positive," although there was also a quick shift in the rise of negative responses. More updates and details on "Ark: Survival Evolved" are expected soon.
