Studio Wildcard’s ARK 2 to Feature mod.io’s Revolutionary Cross-Platform UGC Support in 2023
Next-Generation ‘Survival Experience’ ARK 2 Built In Unreal Engine 5 to Enable Mods Across Xbox Series X|S consoles, PC and Xbox GamePass
In an exclusive trailer revealing new details featured in Microsoft’s Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase today, Studio Wildcard, the developer behind ARK: Survival Evolved, announced its upcoming, next-generation title ARK 2 officially will use mod.io to deliver its extensive cross-platform mod and UGC (user-generated content) support in 2023.
Studio Wildcard’s dinosaur-survival sequel, built in Unreal Engine 5 with photorealistic real-time lighting technology, simultaneously will arrive on Steam, exclusively on Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S consoles, and PC and Xbox Game Pass next year using mod.io’s scalable, frictionless mod technology.
The sequel to the multi-million unit-selling ARK: Survival Evolved, ARK 2 is a massively ambitious sequel built on Unreal’s best-in-class software next-gen engine. But it’s ARK: Survival Evolved’s large, creative, active community, which thrives on the game’s open sandbox tools, that will ultimately benefit from mod.io’s deep mod capabilities.
“There is no shortage to the type of mod that can be created, and that list grows even further with ARK 2 and the possibilities brought by Unreal Engine 5,” said Josh Hines, ARK: Survival Evolved Mod Community Manager & Live Ops Lead.
“I have seen an incredible array of mods in ARK: tower defense mods, predator and prey-style hunting mods, mods that add NPCs with dynamic procedural bases, absolutely beautiful landscapes both realistic and imaginative, dino racing, decorative mods, not to mention ARKADIA’s elaborate RP mods with trains, jails, bounties, and a whole wealth of role-playing systems for their servers.
“Above all else, the coolest projects that I see are when the community works together. The level of polish that results from people collaborating with their unique skill sets is what often makes for a finely tuned project.”
ARK 2’s fully stackable, user-created mods will open the door for players to generate new dinosaur and creatures, items, and gameplay features, with maps distributed across all platforms — including onto Xbox — and support for modded servers, via mod.io! Imagine creating enormous, detailed, mountable dinosaurs and leading them into battle with fully modded, customized weapons and gear through photorealistic prehistoric biomes!
“Generally when we talk about making mods stackable we mean that they can coexist together within the same game session,” explained Hines. “The next stage to follow is moving from mods mostly just co-existing, to mods that actively cooperate. This is usually where framework developers tend to get involved in designing systems that allow for mods to actively communicate and cooperate with each other in real time without having to actually know or rely on each other.
“When systems like this start to develop, the projects that start to emerge from the community take significant leaps in complexity and polish. That is the point where we begin to see the potential of what a community can really do, and for me that is very exciting to watch unfold.”
With such a vigorous community whose appetite for content and creativity is infinite, cross-platform mod support and functionality are key features for ARK 2 community growth.
“The range of player experiences for ARK was vastly different depending on whether or not you had access to mods, and for ARK 2 I am thrilled to see that range being opened to a much broader audience,” said Hines. “Having mod support on multiple platforms means that you are not only opening up your modding community and their creations to more players, but you are also opening up more of your platforms as viable choices for mod authors and players. And by the way, ARK2 of course will support mouse-and-keyboard input on console day-1, too!”
ARK 2 delivers a slew of new features ranging from new, advanced traversal mechanics, such as mantling, free-climbing, parkour, sliding, and swinging; dynamic world events (independent natural and unnatural occurrences happening in real-time); skill-based ‘Souls’-like combat; a totally new alien environment; component-based item crafting; and hostile PVE hunt-and-attack riders intent on driving human interlopers out of their world.
Read more about Studio Wildcard’s ARK 2 here: www.survivetheark.com.
Interested in modding your favorite game? Head to mod.io to get started.
