ARK: Survival Evolved Will Leave Early Access This Year With An Elaborate Limited Edition Bundle

How long have you been playing ARK: Survival Evolved now? One year? Two Years? Did you know it's technically still in Early Access? Well it's true! But it's officially releasing this August. Two years. It's been two years.

Now set to hit version 1.0 (of their version of that) on August 8, 2017, Studio Wildcard released images of the Limited Collectors Edition onto their Twitter page for the announcement. Of course, if you're already sitting on a digital Early Access copy of Studio Wildcard's bizarre Jurassic Park survival sim, you'll have to shell out again for this physical edition - but you'll be getting upgraded to the full release for picking up the Early Access version. It sounds obvious, but people have been asking that particular question. The Limited Edition set comes with a copy of the game; a season pass, leather-bound 'Explorer's Notebook' featuring over 100 of the in-game dossier page, a necklace, cloth map and dev team poster all wrapped up in a faux-wood check.

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Being In Early Access Hasn't Stopped ARK From Getting Pokémon Conversion Mods

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There isn't much to say about how ARK: Survival Evolved will change on release day - but there will be a few more expansions further down the road. Similar to the 'Scortched' expansion released well into the game's Early Access period, these add-on packs will likely take place in a new map for those who want a change of scenery. Similarly, updates will keep coming in the same way they already have - so don't expect our patch notes page to be done with any time soon, either. ARK: Survival Evolved can't really be considered the game that spurred the survival game craze - but it does feel like one of the first to actually have the guts to leave Early Access. Whether that's a good idea or not seems to be the decisive question; but we can hope Studio Wildcard know what they need to do before launch. Scrub down the text-heavy UI and sort out performance issues, for one. Pre-order now, if faux-material boxes are your thing.