If you’ve spent any time in Ark: Survival Evolved community spaces over the last few years, you’ve almost certainly seen the question pop up dozens of times: are they making an Ark 2? The original 2015 survival game blew past all expectations, selling over 45 million copies across PC and console, and spawning a massive, loyal community of players who spend hundreds of hours taming dinos, building bases, and raiding rival tribes. It only makes sense that fans are hungry for news of a sequel that fixes the original’s most common complaints, like clunky combat, performance issues, and repetitive endgame content. This guide breaks down every confirmed detail we have about the long-awaited sequel, busts common rumors, and breaks down what you can actually expect when it launches.
Are They Making an Ark 2? All Confirmed Development Updates
The short answer to the question are they making an Ark 2 is a definitive yes, and the game has been in active development at Studio Wildcard for over six years now. First announced at The Game Awards 2020 with a cinematic trailer featuring Vin Diesel, the sequel was originally slated for a 2023 release before being pushed back to give the dev team more time to polish core systems. Recent job listings for Studio Wildcard show they’re hiring for multiple roles focused on endgame content and server stability, which points to the game being in the final stretch of development. A 2024 dev update from the studio confirmed that all core gameplay loops are finalized, and they’re currently focused on bug fixes and balancing PvP and PvE progression to feel fair for all playstyles. Studio Wildcard has repeatedly stated they won’t announce a final release date until they’re 100% confident the game is ready, so don’t expect a rushed launch that’s full of glitches like the original Ark’s early access release was.
Vin Diesel is not just a face for the marketing campaign, either. He’s a long-time fan of the original Ark, and he’s been heavily involved in the game’s story and character design as an executive producer. He’ll also voice the main playable character, Santiago, a veteran tribe leader trying to protect his people on a hostile alien planet. The dev team has said his input has shaped a lot of the game’s more story-focused elements, which is a big shift from the original’s mostly hands-off narrative.
Core Gameplay Changes You Can Expect From Ark 2
Studio Wildcard isn’t just making a graphical upgrade of the original Ark. They’re reworking almost every core system to feel more modern and less frustrating for new players, while still keeping the gritty survival charm that made the first game a hit. The most talked about change is the shift to third-person only gameplay, with a full souls-inspired melee combat system that replaces the original’s clunky punch-and-spam mechanics. No more clunky dino punch spamming to take down enemies, you’ll have timed blocks, dodges, and combo attacks that require actual skill to master, even when you’re fighting low-level creatures early on.
Traversal is another area getting a massive overhaul. You’ll be able to free climb almost any surface, parkour over gaps, and slide down steep terrain to get around faster, which makes exploring the game’s massive open world feel way more dynamic than the original’s slow, clunky movement system. Taming mechanics are also being reworked to feel more rewarding and less grindy. Tamed dinos will have unique personality traits that affect their behavior in combat and while exploring, so no two T-Rexes you tame will feel the same, and you’ll have actual reason to bond with your creatures beyond just using them as weapons or transport.
We’ve also got a full list of confirmed core gameplay tweaks from official dev updates:
Don’t worry if you love the original’s core survival grind, though. Core loops like gathering resources, building bases, and raiding rival tribes are all still intact, just refined to feel less tedious. For example, you’ll be able to assign tamed dinos to automate resource gathering tasks, so you don’t have to spend 3 hours hitting trees every time you want to expand your base.
What We Know About the Ark 2 Story and Setting
Ark 2 is set on Arat, a new alien planet that’s been overrun by corrupted creatures and hostile human factions, long after the events of the original Ark’s final DLC. The main story follows Santiago, the character played by Vin Diesel, as he leads his tribe of survivors against a tyrannical faction called the Genesis, who are using stolen advanced technology to control the planet’s creatures and enslave other tribes. The story will be fully voiced and have cinematic quests, which is a huge step up from the original’s mostly environmental storytelling that required players to hunt through hidden notes to piece together the lore.
I got to see a 10-minute closed demo of the game last year at a gaming press event, and the world feels way more lived-in than the original Ark’s maps. There are dynamic weather events like acid rain storms and dinosaur migration patterns that can completely change the area around your base overnight. If you build your base in a low-lying valley, you might come back from a taming run to find it completely flooded by a sudden storm, or overrun by a herd of migrating Triceratops that accidentally smashed through your walls. You’ll have to actually pay attention to your surroundings when you pick a base location, which makes exploration feel way more purposeful.
You don’t have to engage with the story if you don’t want to, either. There will be dedicated PvE story servers for players who want to experience the full narrative, and classic PvP and PvE sandbox servers for players who just want to mess around, tame dinos, and build bases with their friends, same as the original game.
Common Ark 2 Rumors You Should Ignore
With so little official gameplay footage released so far, a lot of wild rumors have spread through the community over the last few years, and most of them are completely false. The most common one I see is that Ark 2 is going to be free-to-play with pay-to-win microtransactions. That’s not true at all: Studio Wildcard has confirmed multiple times that it will be a premium paid title, with no pay-to-win mechanics, and all core gameplay content will be included in the base purchase. Any post-launch DLC will be optional, same as the original game’s expansion packs.
Another common rumor is that the devs are removing mod support to push their own official content. That’s also false. In fact, they’re expanding mod support more than ever, with a built-in mod browser that works across all platforms, so modders can share their custom maps, creatures, and game modes with every player, no matter what device they’re playing on. The game won't require a constant internet connection for single-player either, that rumor started from a misinterpreted FAQ post a few years ago, and the devs have clarified it dozens of times since.
I’ve also seen dozens of posts claiming Ark 2 will be exclusive to Xbox. That’s 100% false, it’s launching on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox at the same time, and cross-play will be supported across all platforms, so you can play with your friends no matter what console they own.
If you’ve been holding off on getting hyped because you weren’t sure are they making an Ark 2 that’s worth the wait, you can rest easy knowing the sequel is shaping up to be everything fans have asked for and more. The dev team is taking the time to fix all the original game’s biggest pain points, while keeping the core charm that made the first game such a massive hit. We’ll probably get a full public gameplay demo and official release date in the next six months, so keep an eye on official Studio Wildcard channels if you want to stay up to date on all the latest news. I’m personally already planning out my first base build for launch day, and I can’t wait to explore all the new creatures and biomes the team has been working on.