If you’ve spent dozens of hours taming T-Rexes, building fortified bases, and fighting off raiders in the original Ark: Survival Evolved, you’ve almost certainly asked what is Ark 2 going to be like for long-time fans and new players alike. Studio Wildcard has been teasing details for years, pulling inspiration from popular survival mechanics and even adding a full narrative arc led by Vin Diesel’s character, Santiago Mejia. It’s not just a remaster or minor update – the team is rebuilding core systems to fix longstanding pain points from the first game, while adding enough new features to feel fresh for anyone who’s put hundreds of hours into the franchise. We’ve rounded up all confirmed, official details plus educated guesses based on playtest leaks to give you the full picture of what to expect when the game launches.
What is Ark 2 Going to Be? Core Premise and Story Changes
Unlike the original Ark, which dropped players into a mysterious floating archipelago with zero context and left them to piece together lore from hidden notes and endgame cutscenes, Ark 2 has a clear, accessible narrative set generations after the events of the first game’s Extinction DLC. Vin Diesel’s character Santiago, a fan-favorite from the original game’s lore, is leading a group of human survivors who escaped Earth to settle a new alien planet called Arat. The planet is filled with prehistoric creatures, alien lifeforms, and hostile forces from the Galactic Federation, a tyrannical interstellar group hunting human survivors across the galaxy.
Vin Diesel isn’t just a celebrity face attached to the project either. He’s a long-time Ark fan who’s put thousands of hours into the original game with his kids, and he served as an executive producer to help shape the story and gameplay mechanics. The main story quest line is fully optional, so if you just want to mess around with friends, tame dinosaurs, and build bases without following a set plot, you never have to interact with story content at all. The entire story is designed to be accessible for players who never touched the first Ark, so you don’t need to watch 10 lore recap videos to follow along. You’ll also find distinct human factions scattered across Arat, each with their own gear, taming methods, and quest lines, so you can align with groups that fit your preferred playstyle.
Confirmed Gameplay Mechanics That Set Ark 2 Apart
The biggest change from the original game is that Ark 2 is third-person only, a choice the devs made to support a full Souls-inspired melee combat system. Gone are the days of spamming left click with a metal sword to take down enemies; now you’ll have to master dodging, parrying, and stamina management to win fights, even against low-level creatures or other players. Weapon weight and type also make a huge difference, so a heavy battleaxe will deal massive damage but leave you open to counterattacks if you swing and miss, while a light spear lets you attack quickly and keep distance from fast-moving predators.
If you’ve been asking what is Ark 2 going to be like for taming fans, these changes mean you’ll spend less time waiting around and more time interacting with the world and your tames. That said, the third person only change might be a turn off for players who exclusively played first person in the original Ark, but most playtesters report that the combat feels so much smoother in third person that you’ll likely forget about the first person option after a few hours of playing. Souls-inspired combat doesn’t mean the game is only for hard core players – there are adjustable difficulty sliders for PvE worlds so casual players can still enjoy taming and building without dying every 2 minutes.
Taming mechanics have also gotten a full overhaul. No more standing around for hours feeding a passive creature berries or meat while you pray a random raptor doesn’t attack you mid-tame. All taming interactions are now active: you might have to help a wounded dinosaur fight off a pack of predators, bring it specific rare resources it likes, or even complete small tasks like clearing predators from its nesting ground to gain its trust. Tamed creatures also have far more unique abilities than they did in the first game, so you’ll want to build a varied roster instead of just hoarding 10 T-Rexes for raiding. The devs have also confirmed dozens of fan-requested quality of life changes, including:
PvP and Open World Exploration Updates
The map of Arat is roughly 3 times the size of the original Ark’s largest DLC map, with entirely new biomes that have never been seen in the franchise before. You’ll be able to explore bioluminescent fungal jungles filled with glowing, alien dinosaurs, frozen crystal tundras where blizzards can strike without warning, and floating volcanic islands that hold rare endgame resources. Each biome has unique weather effects, resources, and creature types, so you’ll have to adapt your gear and base design depending on where you decide to settle.
Random world events will trigger across the map every few hours, giving all nearby players a chance to team up for rare rewards. You might encounter a herd of rampaging stegosauruses that are destroying every base in their path, a meteor shower that drops rare crafting resources, or a Federation patrol that will attack any player they see. World events reward players who work together, so even solo players can team up with random people nearby to take down a tough boss and get exclusive loot.
PvP players also have a lot to look forward to. Official servers will have optional offline raiding protection, so your base can’t be attacked when no one from your tribe is online, putting an end to the frustrating trend of players logging in after work to find all their tames and bases gone. There will also be dedicated small-tribe servers that limit tribes to 6 players, so giant zerg tribes can’t dominate the entire map and bully smaller groups. You’ll also be able to claim small plots of land as protected safe zones even on PvP servers, so you can keep a small, starter base that no one can raid even if your larger resource bases are fair game.
What to Expect From Mod Support and Post-Launch Content
The original Ark had one of the most active modding communities of any survival game, with thousands of mods ranging from small quality of life changes to full total conversions that turn the game into a medieval fantasy or sci-fi RPG. Studio Wildcard has said mod support is a top priority for Ark 2, and they’re giving modders full access to the game’s source code so they can create even more ambitious content. Modders will be able to build entirely new maps, creature types, game modes, and even full story campaigns, and all approved mods will be available to download for free across all platforms.
All official mods will be available for free on all platforms, so console players don’t have to miss out on popular mod content like they did with the first Ark. The devs are also building an easy-to-use mod editor that doesn’t require advanced coding knowledge, so even casual fans can make and share their own small mods for the community.
Studio Wildcard has also committed to 7 years of free post-launch content for all players, so you won’t have to buy expensive paid DLC to access new maps, story chapters, or creatures. The only paid content will be optional cosmetic battle passes that let you unlock skins for your character, tames, and bases, with no pay-to-win upgrades or exclusive gameplay content locked behind purchases. I’ve played a lot of live service survival games that lock half the core content behind $30 DLC packs, so this commitment to free content is a huge win for players who don’t want to spend extra money after buying the base game.
At the end of the day, what is Ark 2 going to be? It’s a love letter to long time Ark fans that fixes most of the first game’s most frustrating flaws, while adding enough new mechanics and story content to draw in a whole new audience of survival game players. You don’t have to rush to grind every last tame in the original Ark before launch, but if you want to get a head start, you can practice the first game’s building and taming mechanics to get used to the core loop. No matter if you’re a solo player who loves exploring hidden biomes, a PvP fan who loves raiding enemy bases, or a casual player who just wants to tame cute dinosaurs and build a pretty base, there’s something for you in the upcoming sequel. Make sure to follow official Studio Wildcard channels for the latest confirmed details, as the team is still announcing new features as development wraps up. If you’re planning to play on a public server, it’s also a good idea to start lining up tribe members now, so you’re ready to claim a good base spot as soon as servers go live.