‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Xbox One Update Brings Server Rentals And Xbox One X Enhancements
ARK: Survival Evolved players on the Xbox One can finally rent their own private servers. Studio Wildcard dropped a huge update Monday to the open-world survival title for Microsoft’s console that fixes a handful of issues but more importantly adds server rentals and Xbox One X enhancements.
Xbox One owners will want to plan their ARK: Survival Evolved download. The 765.3 update is a whopper at 30 GB. This appears to largely be due to the Xbox One X enhancements, which include new textures to support higher resolutions.
Server Rentals
The ability to rent servers in ARK: Survival Evolved is being handled by Nitrado, an established server rental service. A Nitrado app is available to download from the Xbox Store where users can manage their server rentals with prices ranging from $13 to $32 a month depending on the number of player slots picked.
This was the reason why it took so long for Xbox One owners to gain the ability to rent servers after the PlayStation 4 received the feature at launch in August. Microsoft required Studio Wildcard and Nitrado to handle rentals through the Xbox Store app instead of through Nitrado’s website.
Xbox One X Enhancements
The Xbox One X launches tonight at midnight and promises to be the best place to play ARK: Survival Evolved on the console due to various improvements. The console will support HDR lighting along with two different graphics modes. Players will be able to choose between 1440p resolution and the equivalent of High-quality PC graphics while running at 30 fps or 1080p with the current Xbox One level of graphics at 60 fps.
Meanwhile, the extra horsepower and available RAM in the console has Studio Wildcard promising faster loading time, improved texture streaming, and a reduction in crashes due to out of memory issues.
The tether has not been completely eliminated, unfortunately. Local split-screen players won’t have to worry about how far they venture from one another but those playing on a non-dedicated server will still have to deal with the tether, just at a larger distance than before.
Other Updates
Today’s ARK: Survival Evolved update also brings the Aberrant skins to those who have purchased the Season Pass. This includes the Aberrant Helm, Sword, Reaper Helmet Skin, and Bulbdog Hat Skin from the upcoming Aberration expansion.
A few minor bug fixes also arrived, such as Plant X Turret missing its target at times and another exploit that allowed players to get underneath the map.
Play Anywhere Status
The Windows 10 release of ARK: Survival Evolved that will allow cross-play and cross-save between the Xbox One and PC via Play Anywhere is still up in the air. Studio Wildcard is trying to implement Microsoft’s TruePlay anti-cheat system in the game instead of the BattlEye service.
The last update is for Play Anywhere to arrive this month. However, Creative Director Jesse Rapczack explained on Studio Wildcard’s Child’s Play charity livestream this weekend the team has the Windows 10 version of ARK: Survival Evolved ready and may release it with only the ability to play on privately hosted unofficial servers or a few official servers while they work on implementing the new anti-cheat system.
[Featured Image by Studio Wildcard]
