ARK Spinoff Reaches Major Player Milestone with Free Play

Summary

• ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition surpassed 3 million downloads in just 3 weeks after its launch.
• The game faces mixed reviews but continues to rise in popularity on iOS and Android.
• Grove Street Games plans to add new maps and content to the dinosaur-infested world in the future.

ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, the latest free-to-play survival game from the ARK universe, has achieved a remarkable milestone by crossing three million downloads within just three weeks of its launch on December 18, 2024. This impressive performance highlights the continued appeal of the franchise, which began with ARK: Survival Evolved in 2017.

Despite receiving mixed reviews at launch, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition has shown strong promise, echoing the success of its predecessor. The original ARK: Survival Evolved managed to sell over a million copies even before its official release, eventually leading to a remastered version, ARK: Survival Ascended, which entered early access in 2023 with enhanced graphics. The ARK series, owned by Studio Wildcard, has expanded into various spin-offs, with ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition being the latest, developed by Grove Street Games for iOS and Android. Players can engage in resource collection, crafting weapons, building settlements, and taming dinosaurs, echoing the gameplay of the console versions.

On January 10, 2025, Snail Games, the publisher of ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, announced the game's impressive download figures. This launch performance significantly outpaced the 2018 mobile port of ARK: Survival Evolved, with a 100% increase in player downloads. Snail Games also revealed that Grove Street Games is actively developing new content for ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, including maps such as Ragnarok, Extinction, Genesis Part 1, and Genesis Part 2.

ARK Mobile Game Sees Promising Launch Stats, Marks Another Strong Release by the Developer

ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition's success is reflected in its rankings on mobile app stores. Currently, it ranks 24th among adventure games on iOS and 9th among top-grossing adventure games on Android. The game holds a 3.9 out of 5 rating on the App Store based on 412 reviews and a 3.6 out of 5 rating on the Play Store from over 52.5K user scores. This launch marks another significant achievement for Grove Street Games, following their work on the improved Nintendo Switch port of ARK: Survival Evolved in 2022.

Following its debut on mobile platforms, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition is set to expand its reach to the Epic Games Store in 2025, offering players more options for downloading the game. Meanwhile, Studio Wildcard has provided an updated roadmap for ARK: Survival Ascended, detailing upcoming content. Fans are also eagerly awaiting news on ARK 2, which missed its anticipated late 2024 release window.