Ark: Survival Evolved’sAquaticaexpansion has had a controversial history, and its launch on July 15 has caused more significant problems than anyone likely anticipated. While most of theArkfocus is onArk: Survival Ascendedand the long-gestatingArk 2these days,Aquaticais a new update to the original version of the game. Ever since itsfirst AI-generated trailer, however, the outsourced addition has been subject to criticism and concern from theArkcommunity.
Upon its release,Aquaticastarted causing problems with the majority of the game’s mods, leading to a rapid drop in review scores and player counts, as noted by Reddit userFinal-Neighborhood52. A title declaring “They killed Ark in less than a day!“accompanies a photo of less than 8,000 players in-game, a significant drop from numbers that routinely stay above 20,000. ASteamupdate has sinceapologized for the issue and provided instructions to access a public pre-Aquaticabranch, which should avoid the issues caused by the DLC.
Ark: Aquatica Is Causing Major Survival Evolved Problems
Mod Compatibility Is A Big Deal
ManyArk: Survival Evolvedplayershave an eight-year history with the game, sosudden compatibility issues can pose a significant threat to long-term progressand investment. With mods installed, players have been experiencing broken games after theAquaticaupdate went live, as exemplified by a Reddit post fromGhoulWithGruelthat shows little more than a blank void after loading in.
With saves, servers, and more that have been built around mods for years, the inability to use mods can make long-term projects entirely inaccessible. Reverting to the pre-Aquaticabranch — and re-installing mods if necessary — luckily seems to fix these issues.The Steam news update doesn’t address calls for refunds, instead suggesting that players can take advantage of the introductory discount to buyAquaticanow and play it later after fixes.
Aquatica Is Another Concerning Ark Update
Arkplayers have been through a lot of ups and downs over the years, andAquatica’s reveal was yet another surprise offering ahead of any hard news aboutArk 2’s eventual release.The expansion was developed by Snail Games Colorado, an American subsidiary of the IP owner Snail Games, while traditionalArkdeveloper Studio Wildcard wasn’t involved in the expansion.
The long delays surroundingArk 2explain why Snail Games might feel the need to generate more income from the originalSurvival Evolved, but it’s clear thatAquaticawasn’t the best wayto go about it. While setting up the pre-Aquaticapublic branch forArk: Survival Ascendedis a start, I’m hoping to see Snail Games offer a more extensive apology and a clear path for refunds (which should already be possible through Steam support) in the coming days.
