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What has released, and when?
Studio Wildcard’s announced dates are targets, not confirmation of delivery. Steam’s DLC listing, accessed October 8, 2026, provides the storefront release dates below. For Genesis Ascended Part 1 and Tides of Fortune, the listed date differs from the target in an earlier studio update.
| Content | Studio announcement target | Steam-listed release |
|---|---|---|
| Ragnarok Ascended | April 2025, in Studio Wildcard’s January 11, 2025 high-level plan | June 19, 2025 |
| Valguero Ascended | August 2025, in the January 2025 plan | October 7, 2025 |
| Lost Colony | November 2025, in the January 2025 plan | December 19, 2025 |
| Fantastic Tames Season 1 | The January 2025 plan anticipated Fantastic Tames during 2025, but did not name this season or give its release date | May 20, 2026 |
| Genesis Ascended Part 1 | June 25, 2026, in a later Studio Wildcard schedule update | July 3, 2026 |
| Tides of Fortune | June 25, 2026, in the same later schedule update | July 3, 2026 |
The studio’s initial 2025 roadmap also listed a premium map for June, but the announcement did not name it. Steam’s listing confirms that Fantastic Tames Season 1 released in May 2026; it should not be treated as proof that it was the unnamed June 2025 map. See the Steam DLC listing for the storefront entries and descriptions.
What was in the January 2025 plan?
Studio Wildcard presented Community Crunch 440 on January 11, 2025 as a “very high-level ASA content roadmap.” It planned a March Unreal Engine 5.5 update, then free Ragnarok Ascended, a Bison and a Fantastic Tame in April. The June premium map was unnamed. August’s planned free content included Valguero Ascended, a community-voted creature and a Fantastic Tame. The plan also said Lost Colony preorders would begin in April, ahead of its November target. The Steam dates above show that several announced windows differed from the eventual storefront dates.
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- ARK: Survival Ascended has completely recreated and redesigned the artwork and worlds of ARK to take advantage of the latest in videogame technology, Unreal Engine 5, using high-end graphics features such as fully dynamic Global Illumination (“Lumen”), so that light bounces realistically of off surfaces and provides realistic reflections, and advanced mesh streaming (“Nanite”) of hundreds of millions of triangles for extreme detail.
- Advanced new physics systems such as dynamic water so that every creature creates waves, ripples, splashes, and bubbles as they move through fluids, and fully interactive physical foliage where every blade of grass, bush, and tree reacts to characters, explosions, projectiles, and physics objects.
- ARK: Survival Ascended includes access to all of ARK’s worlds, including Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, ARK Genesis Part 1, ARK Genesis Part 2, and more. The Island is released now, with the subsequent expansion worlds to be added at no additional cost on a regular basis.
- Thorough Quality of Life revamps in every area: redesigned User Interfaces, dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding, Wild Babies, Photo Mode, new Camera systems, new Map system, Tracking System, new Structures and Items, new Creatures, and much more.
- Cross-Platform Modding: Download & play new custom content created by players, including new maps, creatures, items, and game modes, through a dedicated new Mod-bowser directly within the game! Enjoy an endless stream of new ARK content as the creativity and talent of the community is fully unleashed for the first time ever across gaming platforms!
For 2026, that same plan was looking at free Genesis Ascended Part 1 and Bob’s True Tales Part 1 in April; free Genesis Ascended Part 2 and Bob’s True Tales Part 2 in August; and free Fjordur Ascended with a community-voted creature in December. It also anticipated three Fantastic Tames spread through the year. These were plans, not guaranteed launch dates; the later schedule update moved Genesis Ascended Part 1 and Tides of Fortune to a June 25 target, and Steam lists both on July 3.
What does the later 2026–2027 roadmap include?
In Community Crunch 490 on January 10, 2026, Studio Wildcard described its updated roadmap as a high-level outline of releases planned across 2026 and into 2027. It said the outline was intended to give players an overview of what to expect, not a dated commitment for every project. The announcement named these projects:
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Survival of the Fittest
A refreshed free mod being developed by Studio Sirens, with planned improvements to mechanics, matchmaking and meta-game reward loops. A later schedule update targeted it for July; that statement was a target rather than confirmation of its release.
Bob’s True Tales: Tides of Fortune
A continuation of Bob and Meeka’s story after Lost Colony, set around a revamped Genesis Part 1. Its announced maritime gameplay includes a map-wide ocean, real water physics, customizable pirate ships, semi-procedural islands and fortresses, and naval battles. Steam lists it as released July 3, 2026.
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ASA World Creator
An in-game mode intended to let players make basic edits to existing maps or create environments and share them through the Mod Browser. Studio Wildcard said it was planned for all ASA platforms and would not require a high-powered PC or the external Dev Kit. The announcement also described limits: it would not allow users to create new art assets or build at the depth of the Dev Kit. A later schedule update targeted World Creator for late Q3, without confirming delivery.
Dragontopia
A non-canonical expansion announced as a mythical world of fire, stone and sky, focused on taming and creature interactions. The roadmap used the line “Answer the riddle of flame with us in December,” but that wording does not establish a year. Steam describes a cloudbound world of floating islands, mythical dragons, skill trees and invading legions. The storefront description is a content summary, not a current official schedule update.
Atlantis
A non-canonical map planned to build on Tides of Fortune’s water mechanics, with water-oriented gameplay and world design. The announcement did not give it a firm release date.
Bob’s True Tales: Galaxy Wars
A later Bob and Meeka story set on a revamped Genesis Part 2. Its announced concepts include a map-sized outer-space biome, spacecraft and colonizable planetoids. No firm date was given in the accessible roadmap announcement.
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Legacy of Santiago
Studio Wildcard described this as a standalone expansion series with redesigned gameplay and features. The roadmap did not specify a release date or further details in its accessible announcement text.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which announced items are free maps, paid expansions or other updates?
The roadmap includes several kinds of content, and its labels matter: a free map upgrade is not the same thing as a paid expansion, and not every project is part of ARK’s canonical story.
- Free map and story-content plans: The January 2025 schedule called Ragnarok Ascended, Valguero Ascended, Genesis Ascended Parts 1 and 2, and Fjordur Ascended free. It also listed Bob’s True Tales installments alongside the Genesis plans. Tides of Fortune is associated with Bob’s True Tales and is listed on Steam as DLC; the cited announcements do not establish a general price or platform-by-platform purchase arrangement for every future roadmap item.
- Premium or paid content: The January 2025 plan mentioned an unnamed premium map for June. Lost Colony was a named expansion, and the Steam DLC page lists it, but the cited roadmap material does not provide prices. Check the storefront for current purchase and ownership details.
- Non-canonical projects: Studio Wildcard explicitly described Dragontopia and Atlantis as non-canonical. That distinguishes them from the main story continuity; it does not indicate their release status.
- Other updates and modes: Survival of the Fittest is described as a free mod, while World Creator is an in-game creation mode. Engine upgrades, creatures, TLCs, events, quality-of-life work and legacy-map upgrades are updates or roadmap categories rather than named paid expansions.
What else is planned for 2026–2027?
Beyond the named projects, Studio Wildcard said players could expect more creatures, TLCs, holiday events, quality-of-life improvements, upgraded legacy maps and surprises across 2026–2027. The high-level outline does not give exact dates for every item, so these should be read as broad plans rather than a month-by-month delivery schedule.
What did Studio Wildcard say about performance?
Studio Wildcard said in 2026 that ARK: Survival Ascended ran roughly 40–50% better on the same hardware than at its October 2023 launch, describing the cumulative result of optimization and engine improvements. The studio also projected an additional roughly 30–40% gain across CPU and GPU from Unreal Engine 5.7. The latter is an expectation, not a verified result; neither figure is an independent benchmark. A later schedule update targeted Unreal Engine 5.7 for late Q3, alongside World Creator.
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