Update: The game will come to Xbox One according to the developers who revealed this before PAX East.
Studio Wildcard has announced a free-to-play version of Ark: Survival Evolved titled Ark: Survival of the Fittest, which they have dubbed a “multiplayer online survival arena (M.O.S.A.)”.
The game is set to target eSports fans, and will feature “ELO Ranking, Match-Making, Leaderboards, Pro-Tier Monthly Cash Prizes, and more.” This seems to be a way to tap into an already expansive MOBA market that generates over a billion dollars each year.
Studio Wildcard said in a press release, “Originally, Survival of the Fittest was a ‘total conversion’ mod within the open-world survival adventure Ark: Survival Evolved,” and added, “The game rapidly grew in popularity amongst those wanting a competitive ‘Battle Royale/Last Man Standing’ experience. This standalone game brings all the features of the mod, with upgrades, and newly integrates dedicated esports ranking, matchmaking, reward, and tournament features to make it readily accessible to all players.”
A trailer for Ark: Survival of the Fittest has been released on YouTube.
It is currently only available on Steam, however that’s not to say it won’t come to Xbox One in the future.
Jennifer is a games journalist, former games journalist and PR Manager at Gearbox. They contributed 234 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: went on to write for Windows Central and later managed PR for Gearbox Software.