‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Xbox One X Version Getting 1440p/4K Resolution Options, Dropping Tether [Update]

Studio Wildcard previously announced that ARK: Survival Evolved would run at 1080p and up to 60 frames per second (fps) on the Xbox One X. Studio Co-Founder and Lead Developer Jeremy Stieglitz revealed a new set of resolution and frame rate specs for the new console Friday. He also confirmed the much-despised tether used when hosting a local game will not make an appearance.

ARK: Survival Evolved will run at 1440p and 30 fps for the Xbox One X, according to Stieglitz’s statement on Twitter. The game will run at this resolution and speed with graphic settings that closely match the “High” settings on the PC.

The graphics setting is another change for ARK: Survival Evolved. Creative Director Jesse Rapczak announced the game would run at “Epic” settings on the Xbox One X during E3. The mention of “Epic” setting was a bit eyebrow raising at the time, because the PC version recommends the equivalent of a GeForce GTX Titan X graphics card to handle that setting. While the Xbox One X is a reportedly powerful console, it does not sport that kind of a graphics processor.

For those that would like to see the open-world survival title run at a higher framerate, the Lead Developer later added that the studio will “probably” add an option to run ARK: Survival Evolved at 1080p and 60 fps with graphic settings equivalent to “Medium” on PC.

Update: Not long after this article was posted, Studio Wildcard announced a free 4K texture pack will be released for the Xbox One X

No reason was given for the change, but it looks like Studio Wildcard is attempting to find the sweet spot between resolution, framerate, and graphics setting for the Xbox One X.

Another topic of interest for the Xbox One is the tether used when hosting a game either locally in couch co-op, or with other friends in co-op mode. This causes issues for the players who are not the host because they can only go so far away from the host before the game yanks them back to the player who is hosting.

Hosted games on the Xbox One X will not be restricted by the tether even if those connecting are using a regular Xbox One, per Stieglitz. Rapczack explained in a Reddit post this is due to the Microsoft’s upgraded console featuring an extra 3.5 GB of available memory for ARK: Survival Evolved to utilize.

ARK: Survival Evolved is scheduled to exit Steam Early Access and the Xbox Game Preview program on August 29. The official release will come with the Ragnarok map for consoles. Additionally, the PlayStation 4 version just received the ability to rent PC servers to host games. This will be added to the Xbox One edition not long after the early access exit.

Meanwhile, the Xbox One X is due out on November 7 and will cost $499.99. Pre-order information is expected to be announced at the Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany, on Sunday.

[Featured Image by Studio Wildcard]