ARK: Survival Ascended

Fantastic Tames Season 1 released on November 7, adding Burrowbuck, Cerberax, and Enigmasaur; the latter could mimic other species and borrow their abilities. Giganotosaurus TLC also landed with a new look, revised taming, devastating attacks, and the Wounded Fury passive, while Unreal Engine 5.8 completed its rollout with rendering and distant-view improvements.

• Fantastic Tames Season 1: The new creature lineup expanded the roster.
  • Burrowbuck: Joined the available creatures.
  • Cerberax: Joined the available creatures.
  • Enigmasaur: Arrived on multiple maps with shapeshifting and species-mimicking abilities.
• Giganotosaurus TLC: Giganotosaurus received a new look, a revised taming experience, stronger combat abilities, and Wounded Fury. The update also adjusted health and damage scaling for Aureliax, Astrocetus, and Basilisk, while Tesla Coils, Platform Saddles, and Tek Cloning Chambers received deployment-limit changes.
• Unreal Engine 5.8: The staged upgrade reached full rollout on October 28, reducing GPU workload and improving foliage and distant vistas. A November 7 update also fixed the PS5 crash caused by rendering player structures with mods.
• Conquest: Official Conquest servers opened on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation with increased rates. Community Dino TLC Voting also resumed, with donations unlocking additional votes.
• Fear Ascended: The Fear Ascended event continued with bonuses and community activities, alongside the Haunted Homestead Build Competition, which challenged players to create builds using event content.
• Arkathon 2: Season of the Hunt: The modding contest was announced with a $30,000 prize pool and submissions targeted for November 11. UE5.8 modding preparations also identified projects requiring author action before tools reopened.

ARK: Lost Colony launched on December 19, adding a story-driven world bridging Extinction and ARK 2 with new biomes, Thralls, Outpost Missions, and cinematic lore. ARK Dragontopia and ARK Tides of Fortune, alongside Genesis Ascended Part 1, followed with dragon taming, a new story chapter, and a seafaring frontier.

• Major expansions:
  • ARK: Lost Colony added The Lost King’s Dominion, Cursed Weaponry, Living Lore, and the Engram Codex.
  • ARK Dragontopia added floating islands, dragon skill trees, Lumina, Umbra, and high-altitude traversal.
  • Genesis Ascended Part 1 and ARK Tides of Fortune added sailing ships, customizable fleets, naval combat, treasure hunting, and Palaeoctopus.
• Astraeos content: Pyranthos added a huge desert, five Artifact Caves, new weather and lighting, and encounters with Hydraskos the Unbroken and Minotarchos.
• Creature changes:
  • Araneo TLC added mount saddles, web-based prey control, ambush mobility, and major stat buffs.
  • Therizinosaurus TLC added feathers, a bounding hop, a claw swipe, better traversal, and clearer attack warnings.
  • Giganotosaurus Fury Mechanic and Giga Taming Challenge made the predator more dangerous and gave tamers a new challenge.
• Creation and mod support:
  • ASA World Creator enabled in-game map creation without the Dev Kit.
  • Mod-browser added downloadable community maps, creatures, items, and modes.
  • ASA Mod Jam 2026 Finalist Mods brought the top 13 entries into the game.
• PvP and technology:
  • Official Classic Servers launched with 21 maps and restricted Tek before transitioning to Conquest Season 8, which used 18 maps and 5x rates.
  • Unreal Engine 5.8 Public Test Realm opened with Lumen Lite and Nanite Voxel Culling; the full upgrade remained in testing and its target moved to November 5.

Extinction Ascended and Bob’s Tall Tales: Wasteland War was the biggest shipment, launching with a ruined-Earth setting, the Dreadnoughtus, Armadoggo, and customizable BattleRigs. Ragnarok Ascended, Astraeos, and Valguero Ascended then expanded the map roster, while the Lost Colony Expansion Pass delivered Day Zero content without being the full Lost Colony expansion launch.

• Extinction Ascended: Bob’s Tall Tales: Wasteland War added new wasteland structures, explosive spears, BattleRigs, Armadoggo, and the artillery-platform Dreadnoughtus.
• Astraeos, Ragnarok Ascended, and Valguero Ascended: Three substantial map additions arrived.
  • Astraeos launched as the first Official Partner DLC for $14.99, bringing a Greek-mythology-themed world.
  • Ragnarok Ascended launched as a remastered map with new biomes, creatures, the Labyrinth, and the Ragnarok boss encounter.
  • Valguero Ascended arrived as a free remastered map with more than 63 square kilometers, ten biomes, Megaraptor, and Elderclaw.
• Lost Colony Expansion Pass: The pass became available in July with delivered Day Zero content including Veilwyn, Drakelings, the TEK Bunker, the Nunatak boss fight, and a three-tree player skill system; the full Lost Colony expansion did not launch in this window.
• Mod Browser and Unreal Engine 5.5: The in-game Mod Browser launched with access to community maps, creatures, items, and modes, while World Builder added an admin tool for creating custom landscapes. The Unreal Engine 5.5 upgrade also arrived with rendering, loading, memory, and performance improvements, alongside Single Player Backup Saves.
• Creature additions: Deinotherium, Helicoprion, Bison, Griffin, and Megaraptor expanded the tameable roster, while Phoenix and Griffin breeding became available.
• ARK’s Tenth Anniversary: The anniversary event added ARK Anniversary Surprise Cake, Party Dodo and Party creatures, Birthday Suit cosmetics, new emotes, and boosted official-network rates; Fear Ascended, Love Ascended, Eggcellent Adventure, and Summer Bash also returned with themed rewards.

Aberration Ascended launched with Bob’s Tall Tales: Steampunk Ascent, adding the remastered Aberration map, new creatures, and a second adventure chapter. Scorched Earth Ascended and The Center also arrived, giving ARK: Survival Ascended two substantial new worlds alongside new bosses, creatures, and exploration systems.

• Aberration Ascended: Launched with 15 new creature types, including the Rock Drake, Reaper Queen, and free community-voted Yi Ling. Bob’s Tall Tales: Steampunk Ascent added Cosmo, the SIR-5rM8 automaton, the Zeppelin vehicle, 30 engrams, and steampunk structures; AMD FidelityFX Frame Interpolation was also enabled, with an advertised approximate 80% performance gain.
• Scorched Earth Ascended: Added a desert map with six biomes, the Manticore boss, Fasolasuchus, elemental Wyverns, heat-resistant gear, whips, boomerangs, and tents. Bob’s Tall Tales also introduced the treasure-hunting shovel, configurable wagon, saloons, and other frontier structures.
• New maps and creatures:
  • The Center: Launched as a free map nearly twice the size of The Island, alongside the Shastasaurus and its submarine-style saddle.
  • Astraeos: Added a Greek-inspired world with ancient ruins and custom ships.
  • ARK Fantastic Tames: Introduced the Pyromane, a tamable fire-themed creature available across most official maps.
• Club ARK and Official Conquest: Club ARK launched as a social hub with missions and mini-games, later adding artifacts, a wardrobe, and the Dino Store. Official Conquest introduced large-scale PvP servers with boosted rates, restricted Tek equipment, and a 25-player tribe limit in Season 2.
• ARK’s creator ecosystem:
  • ARK Devkit: Became available as an Unreal Engine 5 editing toolkit, while the Simple Game Framework enabled creators to build custom games and included a playable platformer example.
  • Cross-Platform Mods and Mod-browser: Let players download community-made maps, creatures, items, modes, and cosmetics directly in-game across PC and consoles.
  • Custom Cosmetic System: Added player-made visuals for characters, dinosaurs, armor, weapons, and structures, with automatic background downloads introduced later.