ARK Survival Ascended is getting an official low-spec mode this summer

ARK Survival Ascended is a notoriously demanding game to run. The barrier to entry is already high for any Unreal Engine 5 game – ASA doesn't have the best optimization. However, that is about to change in 2025 due to two factors.

Firstly, one of the biggest things on Studio Wildcard's docket this year is to update ARK Survival Ascended to Unreal 5.5, which is much better optimized. Granted, the release of this update seems to be a shifting goalpost. It was originally promised in April 2025, and now it's the second week of May 2025, but the update is nowhere in sight yet.

However, there is one big thing to chew on for those struggling to run this UE5 behemoth. As Studio Wildcard revealed in Community Crunch 451, the UE 5.5 update is not the only optimization pass ASA is getting this year. This article explores more.

ARK Survival Ascended is getting a performance mode, but you still need the minimum requirements

The game won't look this good on the performance mode, though (Image via Studio Wildcard)

The Unreal Engine 5.5 update for Ark Survival Ascended will release sometime before May 15, 2025, as Studio Wildcard explained in Community Crunch 451. It is taking longer than anticipated, so we might see it stretch past May 15, 2025.

However, for ASE holdovers awaiting performance solutions before they make the move, the same blog talks about the low-requirement mode:

"This summer, a one-click “low-system-requirement mode” will get the game to run on GeForce 1080-level cards, on systems that have 16 GB of RAM. The game won’t look pretty, but it will look intelligible, similar in quality to the “Shader Model 4” mode of ARK Survival Evolved. To all the gaming toaster ovens out there (we have plenty of them ourselves), we salute you!"

It is named a "low-system-requirement mode" because a GTX 1080 (or equivalent) is the GPU listed in the minimum system requirements.

However, coupled with the UE 5.5 optimizations, it will be a viable option to play it on the GTX 1080 and with 16 GB of system memory. Theoretically, the game will let you load into a map with a rig like that right now, but the constant stutters will make it unplayable even as a fully PvE experience.

The developers compare its visuals to SM4 mode in the original ARK Survival Evolved, which forced the game's rendering to be DX 10 instead of DX 11 – it didn't look all that bad.

Also read: ARK Survival Ascended Lost Colony release window and features

Meanwhile, the Unreal Engine 5.5 update will also make all free DLC maps optional downloads not packaged into the base game, so the initial file size will be significantly smaller.

This low-system-requirement mode is likely coming after ARK Survival Ascended Ragnarok, which is now planned for June 2, 2025.

Check out our other guides on the game:

About the author

Sambit Pal is an esports Journalist on Gaming and MMO at Sportskeeda. He has Master's degree in English Literature. In his spare time, he is an amateur sleuth trying to trace the Riven Mafia in Warframe, and a recovering Bethesda modding addict. He also secretly enjoys action Roguelites, a severe lack of gitting gud notwithstanding.

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Edited by Sambit Pal