‘ARK: Survival Evolved – Aberration’ Expansion Released, Xbox Play Anywhere Pushed To Thursday
ARK: Survival Evolved players on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC have a strange new ARK to explore and survive. Studio Wildcard released the Aberration DLC expansion Tuesday that ventures into the caverns of a malfunctioning ARK. Meanwhile, the Xbox Play Anywhere release sees another slight delay as the Windows 10 release has been pushed to Thursday.
The updates for ARK: Survival Evolved are now available for the PS4 (v518) and Xbox One (v768). They weigh in at 20.5 GB and 39 GB separately, with the actual Aberration expansion being a separate download at around 8 GB on both platforms. The update on the PC, on the other hand, is 15 GB.
The updates to the console versions of the game add the Heavy Turret. As previously covered, this is an upgraded version of the standard Auto Turret to compensate for an upcoming 100 turret limit in a 100-meter area. Studio Wildcard plans to wait until later to implement this change while making tweaks to the Heavy Turret based on player feedback. The new turret has already been added to the PC version.
The new console update also increases the imprinting intervals for infant, juvenile, and adolescent creatures from four hours to eight hours. This should give ARK Survivors a little more flexibility when it comes to raising their prized hatchlings.
Aberration
As previously covered, the $20 Aberration expansion is set on a derelict ARK primarily in caves and caverns below the surface due to a toxic atmosphere filled with both gas and radiation from the nearby sun. The map will continue with the story established by the current end-game added to the title when it was officially released in August.
There are a number of new animals and items being added with the expansion, with variants of some original ARK dinosaurs still present and possessing some glow-in-the-dark features. The big gameplay change is that flying is not allowed. Players will be able to use a wingsuit to glide and use zip lines to move around quickly without the aid of tamed creatures.
Speaking of which, players will not be able to transfer existing ARK: Survival Evolved creatures to the Aberration map but will be able to transfer the new creatures to the previous four maps.
Light is also an important mechanic in Aberration. Lantern Pets, like the new Bulbdog, will be important companion tames to take into dark and dangerous parts of the map, like the Element chamber.
Xbox Play Anywhere
Studio Wildcard’s last update on the Windows 10/Xbox Play Anywhere release of ARK: Survival Evolved was that it would be released alongside Aberration. That hit a slight delay and will now be released Thursday, December 14.
Windows 10 PC users who already own the Xbox One version of ARK: Survival Evolved will be able to download the game for free. Crossplay between Windows 10 and Xbox One will be limited to unofficial servers and non-dedicated servers. This is due to Studio Wildcard needing more time to implement Microsoft’s anti-cheat service, TruePlay.
The Play Anywhere release will also allow ARK: Survival Evolved users to build and operate their own unofficial servers instead of renting them or using an Xbox One console as a host.
