‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ PC Hosted Servers For PS4 And Xbox One Plus Ragnarok Map Coming At Launch

Console players of ARK: Survival Evolved received two important confirmations for the open-world dinosaur survival game Wednesday. Studio Wildcard announced PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners would be able to host their own PC-based private servers at the official August 8 launch. Additionally, the recently delayed Ragnarok free map will also be released when the game exits Early Access.

Studio Wildcard has been burning the midnight oil to get ARK: Survival Evolved ready for a retail release after two years of Early Access development. That was completed Tuesday, and now the developers are turning to several outstanding issues heading into launch. The most exciting of these for console owners may just be the ability to host their own private PC-based servers.

PC Console Hosting

As ARK: Survival Evolved console veterans are aware, the game will allow players to host their own private servers, but it is severely hamstrung due to using a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One console as the host. This causes many issues as the hardware is not powerful enough to host a full complement of players, it is prone to crashing, and the server owner does not have access to all settings.

The PC hosted servers for PS4 and Xbox One will be available through Nitrado at launch. This is just for the initial phase while Studio Wildcard works through any technical and stability issues. The ability to host through other services and possibly self-run PCs will come once the development team is happy.

There are many benefits to running a PC-based private server. In addition to being able to set much less grindy rates than on official servers, server hosts will be able to support up 100 players, enjoy better performance, have access to the full suite of custom settings, and be able to maintain backups of server save files.

Server owners will also have the option to setup their own cross ARK Cluster. This will allow players to move across all four ARK: Survival Evolved maps – The Island, The Center, Scorched Earth, and Ragnarok. Note this will potentially be expensive to run as the monthly rental price for Nitrado stars at $13 per server for ARK.

Do not expect cross-play between the PS4 and Xbox One on these servers.

What About Xbox Play Anywhere Support?

Play Anywhere support to allow cross-play between the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs (via the Windows Store) is still in development, per a Twitter post from Community Manager Jat. The current plan is to have it ready for launch, but there’s no guarantee that will happen.

Ragnarok

Finally, the free Ragnarok map launches on August 8 for both the PS4 and Xbox One. The map was originally scheduled for July 4, and then, July 18. However, Studio Wildcard operating in crunch mode to get the game ready for retail release put the focus elsewhere.

The delay of Ragnarok might be for the best, though. The map was released on the PC and is far from complete or optimized to run on consoles. It is beautiful, but the map will test even the most powerful of PCs. The delay in launching gives the modding team behind the map time to complete the map and incorporate the latest changes to the game’s development kit, “which will have a significant impact on the console experience concerning performance, visual fidelity, and stability.”

Finally, it will allow Studio Wildcard to launch new servers for ARK: Survival Evolved to support the Ragnarok map at the same time it is releasing new servers for the launch of the game.

[Featured Image by Studio Wildcard]