Summary
- ARK: Survival Evolved is no longer available, but today, it has been replaced by ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition.
- ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition features two expansions, with more expansions coming over the next year.
- An optional subscription unlocks expansions, console commands, bonus XP, and more perks.
You may have noticed that the old listing for ARK: Survival Evolved is no longer available on the Play Store. It would seem the game wasn’t receiving updates, so it grew to be incompatible with the latest Android versions. If you had previously installed Survival Evolved, you should still be able to access the old game from your Play Store settings, but more or less, that version is no longer relevant on Android. The good news is that today brings a replacement with the launch of ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, which is landing as a free-to-play version (similar to the previous mobile offering) that anyone can enjoy.
The above trailer released for today’s launch offers a solid look at what to expect from ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition. At its core, this is a survival crafting game, one that is filled with dinosaurs that you can tame and ride. The expansion packs Scorched Earth and Aberration are available at launch, with Extinction, Genesis Parts 1/2, and Ragnarok all expected to arrive by the end of 2025. The developer of the mobile port, Grove Street Games, has even detailed that the title will be launching on the mobile Epic Games Store sometime in the future.
ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition may have an uphill battle on its hands
Winning mobile fans over after Survival Evolved disappeared won’t be easy
Ideally, this wide release with plenty of planned expansion updates means ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition will see the appropriate level of support. This is especially important when ARK: Survival Evolved had a fairly poor reputation, thanks to bad graphical performance. But it’s not like the game is very performant on any OS, which tends to be the reality of independent open-world survival games. Still, the disappearance of Survival Evolved from the Play Store won’t be doing Ultimate Mobile Edition any favors.
Much like ARK: Survival Evolved, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition is free-to-play, which means anyone can jump in. Of course, there is monetization in the form of an optional subscription known as ARK Pass, which will run you $5 a month or $50 a year. This sub will unlock all current and future expansions while also offering a few more perks, like access to console commands (in single-player), bonus XP, free keys, and exclusive server access. And for those who don’t want to sub, you will also be able to purchase expansion packs outright.
Anyone can install ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition
There’s no harm in taking a look
So there you have it; ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition has launched today as a free-to-play release, with a couple of expansions in tow and more to come down the road. If you’re a fan of the survival crafting game genre, you’ll likely want to check out today’s release on mobile to see how things are running. You can easily install the game by clicking on the Play Store widget below.
