HomeMain MenuPress ReleasesIT'S A MERRY DINOSAURUS XMAS FOR ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED

IT’S A MERRY DINOSAURUS XMAS FOR ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED

IT’S A MERRY DINOSAURUS XMAS FOR ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED
Winter Wonderland Update for Steam and Xbox/PS4 ARK Players Unleashes Raptor Claus + Unique Holiday Gifts! Additional Steam Content Delivers 5 New Dinos to Capture, Two New Underwater Caves

Seattle, WA – December 22, 2016 –  Ho-Ho-holy smokes, it’s that most wonderful time of the year again! ARK: Survival Evolved (Steam, Xbox and PS4) prepare for the arrival of Raptor Claus and his load of gifts, both naughty and nice. In the Winter Wonderland 2 event beginning today, ARK survivors will chase the scaly gift-giver around the world as he drops loot, coal and a few new goodies, all of which can be used to craft holiday-themed items. The holly-jolly team at Studio Wildcard also adding a very special surprise holiday item to the PC version of the game…what could it be? The only way to find out is to play (or to watch the trailer to the end)!

Don’t own ARK yet? Here are the ways to play:

  • The Steam’s Winter sale is now live and new players can grab ARK: Survival Evolved on PC/Mac/Linux for a 60% discount, and the Scorched Earth Expansion Pack for 33% off.
  • Download ARK: Survival Evolved and its Expansion Pack Scorched Earth now on Xbox One!
  • ARK: Survival Evolved recently launched worldwide on PlayStation 4. Grab your bundle of the main game and Scorched Earth now!

Along with the Winter Wonderland 2 update, Studio Wildcard is releasing the v253 update today for Steam players – which includes two new full-scale underwater caves and setting loose five new creatures: Cnidaria, Troodon, Tusoteuthis, Pegomastax, and the Therizinosaurus.
If that’s not enough, Raptor Claus and his helpers at Studio Wildcard are also releasing a new Spotlight trailer today, which can be downloaded below.

New Dinos and Creatures!

Cnidaria Omnimorph: A combination of everything good and bad about various species of Jellyfish, the Cnidaria is too simple to tame or train, but tribes keep schools of them around for their bioluminescence and their ability to sting. Containing them in pools around a camp is a great way to make a barrier of swimming, stinging security that also illuminates the night. They also drop a special biotoxin which can be used to create shocking torpor darts and is 2x as powerful as regular ones.

Troodon Magnanimus: Outside of human beings, the Troodon might just be the most clever creature on the islands. You don’t “tame” a Troodon, you earn its loyalty through its social nature and love of the hunt. While Troodon is considered a  smaller relative of the island’s Raptors, they are no less dangerous, especially with their love of hunting at night.

Pegomastax Fructarator: Life ain’t easy when you’re at the bottom of the food chain on carnivore-filled islands, just ask the Pegomastax. This is a relatively harmless herbivore who prefers to live alone and gorges on just about any plants it can find. Far from the definition of “pretty”, Pegomastax features a nasty looking beak (with tusks for extra effect!) and feathers, making him a unique sight on the island. Some tribes keep a few Pegomastax around, as they are excellent scavengers who collect an extraordinary quantity of seeds and berries, while also handily gathering the rare Flowers, Mushrooms, and other ingredients necessary to cook up unusual concoctions.

Tusoteuthis Vampyrus: A monstrous relative of the vampire squid, Tusoteuthis bares a closer resemblance to giant squids. It may be slow, but the aquatic Tusoteuthis is a horrific threat to anyone who dares get too close, using its tentacles to first grab, then crush…and then syphon the blood out of, its hapless victims. Tribes will sometimes tame this nightmare of the deep in order to extract its unique ink, which contains oils that can be processed into fuels.

Therizinosaurus Multiensis: Built like a T-Rex, but completely tameable and an herbivore to boot, the Therizinosaurus is one of the strangest dinosaurs on the islands. Its claws allow it to perform both brute-force or delicate actions; from taking down enemies (though it would prefer to just leave them alone) to plucking leaves from a particularly tasty bush. Because of this ability, Therizinosaurus are always handy to have around for harvesting specific resources, or, when needed, decimating enemies in combat.

ARK: Survival Evolved is in development for Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program, Steam Early Access and PlayStation®4. The game is currently playable in on all three platforms, which includes Oculus Rift VR support and an integration of Steam community features such as Steam Economy and Steam Workshop for custom maps and mods. Players can host private/LAN servers and have access to a custom-built version of the Unreal Engine 4 Editor for creating mods. The world of ARK is designed to be modder-friendly and ever-expanding!

For the latest updates follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, visit the Website at playark.com and watch us tame and train leviathan dinosaurs on Twitch.TV.

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ABOUT STUDIO WILDCARD

Studio Wildcard was co-founded in 2014 by industry veteran Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak, former Technical Art Director at Microsoft Game Studios, with the mission of bringing AAA quality to ambitious indie productions that are designed for core gamers. With combined 25 years of industry experience across multiple independent and studio-backed titles, Jeremy and Jesse have teamed up with other veteran developers for Seattle, WA-based and Gainesville, FL-based development studios that also include distributed team members across multiple continents. Wherever talented, driven developers may reside, Studio Wildcard intends to seek out and work with them!

ABOUT INSTINCT GAMES

Instinct Games is Egypt’s leading game development studio. Started in 2011 by former Timeline Interactive co-founders, the Instinct Games team develops and produces video games on all major platforms utilizing its competent technical team. Its mission is to collaborate with world class partners to foster Egypt’s video game development ecosystem and set a precedent of high quality, low cost, entertaining indie games with worldwide appeal.