ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition's Impressive Debut: 3 Million Downloads in Three Weeks
ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, the free-to-play mobile spin-off of the popular ARK: Survival Evolved franchise, has achieved a remarkable milestone. Within three weeks of its December 18, 2024 launch, it surpassed three million downloads on iOS and Android.
Despite receiving mixed reviews upon release, the game's popularity continues to surge. This success surpasses the initial launch of ARK: Survival Evolved's mobile port in 2018, demonstrating a significant increase in player engagement. The game's publisher, Snail Games, attributes this to a 100% jump in downloads.
The game, developed by Grove Street Games, offers players a familiar experience: resource gathering, crafting, base building, and dinosaur taming. This follows the success of Grove Street Games' previous work on the enhanced Nintendo Switch port of ARK: Survival Evolved in 2022.
Current Performance and Future Plans
ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition currently holds a respectable position in app store rankings, sitting at 24th among adventure games on iOS and 9th among top-grossing adventure games on Android. While user reviews are mixed (3.9/5 on the App Store and 3.6/5 on the Play Store), the high download numbers indicate strong player interest.
Grove Street Games is actively developing new content for the game, including new maps like Ragnarok, Extinction, and both Genesis parts. This expansion promises to further enhance the player experience and sustain the game's momentum.
Future Availability and Franchise Updates
Following its successful launch on iOS and Android, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition is slated for release on the Epic Games Store in 2025, offering players increased platform choice. The future of the broader ARK franchise remains promising, with Studio Wildcard recently outlining an updated roadmap for ARK: Survival Ascended. However, the anticipated release of ARK 2, originally slated for late 2024, is yet to be confirmed.
