It had a massive, 25-square kilometer map, a robust crafting system, persistent player housing and a host of prehistoric creatures to hunt and tame.

As relatively few large games have transitioned from Early Access into a full retail launch, we wish there was a smoother process for how to do it, but I think everyone - us and the industry itself - is still figuring some of this stuff out.”Īrk went to early access with an impressive feature set. “As soon as it was made clear to us by the retailers that a digital price adjustment was necessary for the launch, we let the community know through our various communication channels to provide a final opportunity to get the game at the original Early Access price. Otherwise, it would be out of the question to see Ark on shop shelves with a simultaneous release. “Given Ark has over three times as much content now as our initial Early Access launch, we agreed with their requirement to match the digital price to the disc price when pre-orders started. “As we head towards finishing up Ark and launching it at retail, the retailers wouldn't allow a price discrepancy between digital sellers and physical sellers,” community manager and associate producer Jatheish Karunakaran said in an email.

Studio Wildcard told Polygon that the increase was necessary given the realities of a retail sales model dependent on pre-orders. But the sudden price increase while still technically in early access caught many by surprise. The studio told us that the plan was always to raise Ark’s price after the early access period, and it’s something that has been communicated to fans since the beginning. The game will get a worldwide retail and digital release on August 8 and come out simultaneously for Linux, Mac, PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. On the eve of this year’s E3 in Los Angeles, Studio Wildcard announced that Ark : Survival Evolved would end its journey through early access after more than two years of live development. Polygon reached out to the team to find out why. Now, as the team at Studio Wildcard prepares for a full commercial release, the game has suddenly jumped up in price from $29.99 to $59.99. Ark: Survival Evolved launched onto Steam’s Early Access in June 2015 and quickly became one of PC’s hottest titles.

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