Dinosaur Fever - Ark: Early Access Evolved

It seems Dinosaur Fever has not only infected Hollywood with Jurassic World’s record breaking opening weekend, but the video gaming industry as well. On the surface, Ark: Survival Evolved's premise is boring, if not cliche. Survival game? Check. Deserted Island? Check. Early Access? Of course. Dinosaurs you can train, ride, and then use to hunt other dinosaurs? Now you’ve got my attention. In Ark: Survival Evolved, players find themselves on a deserted island populated by wild animals and dinosaurs for the player to hunt, tame, and ride. But even that has been done before, notably with the Early Access fiasco Stomping Grounds. What truly sets Ark apart is that it is a genuinely good game. And the gaming community has taken notice.

Since its June 2nd release, Ark has sold more than 400,000 copies, overrunning the developers initial $1.5 million investment.  The initial rush of sales has translated to a huge, active community. At the time of writing, Ark is the 3rd most played game on Steam behind Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: GO. Ark has also maintained a steady presence on the Twitch.tv front page, which could have been a factor in its sudden popularity. Even I got caught up in the excitement and picked it up, even though I usually abstain from buying Early Access games. Playing Ark on and off since release made it easy to see why the community has fallen in love with the game.

Since it was an Early Access release, the first few days were bumpy. There were far too few servers for all of the players, and those lucky enough to connect were met with crashes or unplayable performance. In response, the devs released multiple patches every day, quickly solving problems as they were discovered. In a single week, the majority of technical problems, including the one that prevented me from playing, were solved. This quick response and dedication to providing a quality product is all but unheard of these days, even with AAA developers, let alone a smaller indie dev. Studio Wildcard loves their game, and that passion makes us love it too.

Those paying attention may have noticed that just last week I wrote an article decrying Early Access games. Ark is one of the few that is doing Early Access right. They released a product that (after a few quick patches) worked, was fun to play, and provided a full experience. There was tons of things to do, including end-game content, right out of the gate and the content they plan on adding over time doesn’t significantly change the game. New dinosaurs to hunt and items to craft will definitely spice things up, but the fundamental experience will be the same. Those playing the Early Access now are still getting their money’s worth and providing the developers with valuable feedback. This is how Early Access is supposed to work. It's a symbiotic relationship between the customer and the company, not a money grab we commonly see.

That being said, Ark may still fall victim to the population dilution brought on by Early Access. I hope that enough players stay consistently involved in the community to keep the official servers lively, but we’ll have to wait and see. Luckily, there is a single player/local option so you can play by yourself or with a few friends so the status of the official servers doesn’t have to affect you. We’ll have to wait and see how Ark grows over time but I am looking forward to reviewing the final release. For now it is a really fun game that is proving the Early Access system can work. Also, dinosaurs!