5 Reasons Ark: Survival Ascended Should Continue & 5 Reasons It Shouldn’t

5 Reasons Ark: Survival Ascended Should Continue & 5 Reasons It Shouldn’t


With the future of Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark 2 seemingly unpredictable, the arguments for and against the upgrade staying around have begun. For all its trouble, Ascended has overall been a successful game. It has drawn in massive profits for Studio Wildcard and publisher Snail Games. It has also paved the way for future parts of the franchise, like creature packs and community-created add-ons like quality premium Ark mods.




Meanwhile, Ark 2 seems like a game hanging in the balance. Numerous delays have pushed the game back to a supposed release in late 2024, but with that timeframe closing and no update given, it is unlikely to be this year. However, the possibility does exist that the highly anticipated sequel will be released sooner rather than later.


10 Ascended Still Has More Content Planned

Reason For Ascended

The main reason to keep Ascended going, at least until the sequel is ready, is the content planned. The upgrade is receiving the Extinction DLC later in December 2024 and has plans for at least one more DLC in early 2025. At this rate, it wouldn’t hurt for Ascended to continue receiving upgraded Evolved content as long as it doesn’t further delay Ark 2.


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Along with DLCs, Ascended has also capitalized on selling creature packs and Bob’s Tall Tales. More content for the game in this regard not only raises the bar but also generates profit. However, this method should only be used in the event Ark 2 is still the plan and isn’t outright canceled by Studio Wildcard.

9 Ascended’s Lackluster PvP Experience

Reason Against Ascended

One of the largest issues in Ascended has been its PvP. Part of this is the game’s poor optimization, but most has to do with the lack of balance and pay-to-win features. The former is rightfully a tricky thing to manage in a game like this, but with a large part of the player base that desires to play PvP, it’s something Studio Wildcard needed to figure out and still hasn’t.


Ark 2
could be the chance the franchise needs to get its PvP back on track.

The other aspect has been pay-to-win features like the Pyromane and Dreadmare. These powerful creatures are capable of easily dominating servers and are excluded from those who can’t or don’t want to purchase them. This ended up coming back around to the point where the Pyromane was then nerfed so hard it felt useless. In this regard, Ark 2 could be the chance the franchise needs to get its PvP back on track.

8 Ascended’s Potential Path Forward

Reason For Ascended


If Ark 2 is abandoned for Ascended, then the title has a lot more room for growth. As mentioned previously, it can receive all of Evolved‘s content rather than the cutoff point it originally had. This would solve many of the issues with Evolved‘s dated systems but would have to be finely tuned.

Second, Ascended will be at a point where anything planned for Ark 2, from a story standpoint, could transfer over. The content itself may be more limited than what the studio desired at first, but the benefits of remaking it for Ascended could greatly outweigh the risk of pushing forward with Ark 2. This path is by no means the “easy” option, but would likely be the “safer” for the franchise and studio.

7 Ark 2 Can Have Better Collaborations

Reason Against Ascended


Though a smaller reason, Ark as a franchise seems to be taking inspiration from other popular games and starting to collaborate with other media franchises. The first of these was with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and while visually the custom skins were excellent, the lackluster collaboration felt like a waste of money. There is a second one planned, but there is nothing to indicate it will be any big step up from its predecessor.

Ark 2, with all its innovations, could be the opening the studio needs to push the boundaries with collaborations. Something like the Power Rangers pack could go from a simple cosmetic to something with unique mechanics. Proper balance would be crucial here, and some server limitations may exist, but there are ways to make this work that benefit all sides.

6 Ascended Can Help Prevent A Split Playerbase

Reason For Ascended


A glaring issue if Ark 2 does release is the two games competing for players. The best-case scenario is Ark 2 is nearly flawless and only a small portion of the community prefers Ascended. However, given Studio Wildcard’s track record, the more likely outcome is a large portion like the sequel, and an equal or larger portion staying with Ascended or even Evolved.

A split player base like this would be the death of both games. Ascended would likely be left without any new content, leaving mods to fill the gap, but even that would be a bandage solution. Meanwhile, Ark 2 would need a steady income to make content for the future, along with good base sales at launch. If Ark 2 seems more of a gamble now than it did when first announced, it may be better to just stick with Ascended.

5 Ascended Still Has Hordes Of Performance Issues

Reason Against Ascended


Arguably the biggest issue with Ascended is its poor optimization and performance on every platform. Consoles are limited, which gives them a better baseline, but they still feel poor when compared to a high-end PC. Most standard PCs can barely run the game, and those that can with the best settings for performance in Ascended have to sacrifice graphical quality for it.

This relies on the hope that Ark 2 avoids these issues. In the case it does, then there are no issues and the franchise moves on like it always planned to. However, if Ark 2 releases as poorly optimized as Ascended, or somehow worse, then the franchise may truly be on its last legs.

4 Ascended Has A Stable Gameplay Loop

Reason For Ascended

Even with its issues, the core gameplay of Ascended is solid. Enough so that it could easily survive for a few more years, which would put it in a place where the franchise could wrap up nicely. There is no denying Ark 2 would enhance the franchise, but that doesn’t mean anything in Ascended is flawed.


Anything that can be comfortably worked into the engine without breaking the game would be a welcome refresh.

However, this does not mean that Ascended can’t see some upgrades. Anything that can be comfortably worked into the engine without breaking the game would be a welcome refresh. This also helps prevent the total loss of any ideas Studio Wildcard had for the sequel. A good example of this is the reworked crafting systems that have been detailed for Ark 2​​​​​​.

3 Ark 2 Could Avoid Or Fix Microtransactions

Reason Against Ascended


One of Ascended‘s biggest issues recently has been microtransactions with creature packs. Though this has become a common practice in gaming, another likely reason for it in Ascended is that all the DLC are free upgrades. Understandably, the studio needs some form of income, but the way creature packs have been handled is improper and could be removed in the sequel.

The other option is for Ark 2 to fix microtransactions. This could be done in multiple ways, with the two easiest options being a proper balance of creatures or server limitations. Another option, though unlikely given the freedom of it, would be to only require the host or a certain server member to have the packs purchased. This would only work on non-official servers but is a nice boon to all players while giving non-buyers the chance to try the creatures and convince them to purchase.

2 Ascended Can Be Fixed For Cheaper

Reason For Ascended


On the flip side, if Ascended‘s performance issues could be fixed, it would be the cheaper option for Studio Wildcard. This also depends on the status of Ark 2 and where the sequel is in the development process. If it is as far back as some believe it to be, then this would be a reasonable choice. However, if the game could be released in 2025, this wouldn’t be as advisable.

Dinosaurs from Ark Survival Ascended

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If Ascended‘s performance issues were resolved, a massive wave of problems would wash away. There would still be hardware limitations, but it opens the door for more players to access it than before. A step like this, even if it is the bare minimum, would be a huge win for the studio and go a long way to restore its supporters’ wavering faith.


1 Ark 2 And Its Innovations Are Hard To Ignore

Reason Against Ascended

The hard problem with staying with Ascended is that nothing major would change from a gameplay perspective. Ark 2 is reportedly set to introduce hordes of new systems and mechanics to change the franchise completely. These include reworked crafting systems, smarter dinosaur AI, and a combat system taking inspiration from third-person soulslike games.

For the most part, changes like these would be impossible to bring to Ascended. This would leave the game in a frozen state, which isn’t horrible considering that it is the state it has already had success with. However, everything gets stale at one point, and the innovations Ark 2 wanted to introduce were a large part of what built up the hype.


There is no easy choice for the path ahead of this beloved franchise. If Ark 2 is as far in development as it is hoped to be, it is better to finish it. This will put Studio Wildcard on a tightrope to walk with Ascended, but likely one the developer was always prepared to tackle. On the other hand, if Ark 2 has been bogged down with serious issues that have prevented massive progress, it may be smarter to make Ark: Survival Ascended the future.

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