by theygamesArk Survival Ascended has been steadily making its way through all of Survival Evolved’s expansions, remastering and re-releasing them as it goes. Many thought that once Survival Ascended had ticked every last bit of Survival Evolved content off its list, it’d be time for Ark 2, but unfortunately the whereabouts of its highly anticipated sequel are still unknown. Instead, players are for the first time getting a completely original, all-new expansion to Ark Survival Ascended called Lost Colony, and while its star-studded cast and icy new world is enough to get excited about, it’ll also feature some “fan-favorite characters” and tee up the story for Ark 2. Oh, and Studio Wildcard has confirmed when it’ll be releasing too.
I was able to reveal a few small but exciting details about Lost Colony late last year, including that it would take place in a new wintery location, connect some narrative dots from previous Ark Survival Ascended expansions, and tease what’s to come in the elusive Ark 2. With Lost Colony’s full reveal today, we now know so much more about the survival game’s new adventure.
Lost Colony will put you in the shoes of Mei Yin (who you will know already if you’ve watched the Ark animated series on Paramount+) and you’ll explore the frozen realm of Arat Prime. That’s a name that the most dedicated of Ark lore-heads will recognize – it’s been hinted at for years as an important location, and the YouTube description for the new reveal trailer confirms that it is indeed “the birthplace of the Arks.” The description also says that “the frozen wastes of Arat Prime are not devoid of intelligent life; on the contrary, the city has become a war-torn battleground between twisted Element-powered ‘factions’ seeking to undo what was accomplished at the end of Ark Extinction.”
Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh is reprising her role as Mei Yin, and stars alongside Madeleine Madden and, most interestingly, Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of Moana but also the actress who will be playing Meeka (the daughter of Santiago) in Ark 2.
Studio Wildcard also says that during the new expansion “you’ll unlock powerful ‘Lost’ character ability trees, befriend exotic tames, craft ‘Cursed’ tiers of gear, and master advanced new building systems,” so there’s a lot more than just new environments and story content here.
Ark Survival Ascended’s Lost Colony Expansion will be available to pre-order in June this year and will then launch in November 2025, according to Studio Wildcard.
While it’s great that we’ve got a launch window in the diary, it does also suggest that we’ve still got a very long time to wait for the Ark 2 release date. Slated for a 2024 release after suffering delays, the year ended without any mention about why it missed its window or its status. With Lost Colony teeing up Ark 2’s story, it will of course not be launching before the expansion. I’m sure that Studio Wildcard will want to give Lost Colony some breathing space, too, so that makes an Ark 2 release in 2025 extremely unlikely. All eyes on 2026, it seems.
Until Lost Colony arrives, here are some other excellent dinosaur games to try out, or maybe these building games will take your fancy if you’re obsessed with creating mega bases.
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