'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUG/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwX/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAKW3Jj//xAAfEAABAwQDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwQFAAEHEgYTIpP/2gAIAQEAAT8A4ZjGcZ3XbuJhshHEYLGmy3DZQfQnrQ48jRG1u9T5DX//xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgD/2gAIAQIBAT8AuR3/xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgD/2gAIAQMBAT8Aik3/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
As a direct remaster of ARK Surivival Evolved, ARK Survival Ascended borrows from the extant playerbase of the long-running first game. ARK Survival Ascended adds some quality-of-life changes alongside the shiny new Unreal Engine 5 graphics. On the flip side, ARK Survival Evolved has much more content that is yet to be ported to the new game.
This is an even tradeoff to new and returning players, as reflected by the numbers. The first game will often have more concurrent players than the new one - which is not a good look for something that is supposed to be a direct upgrade.
This has made many fans curious as to how well ARK Survival Ascended is able to retain its playerbase over time. In this article, we explore the fluctuating player count in Ark Survival Ascended along with its current active player base.
Trending
Disclaimer: These stats are based on Steamcharts and only show the player activity on the Steam platform.
How big is the Ark Survival Ascended playerbase in 2024?
As it stands, ARK Survival Ascended is far from overtaking the peak player activity (248,405) of the first game, boasting an all-time high of only 98,047 players on Steam.
ARK Survival Ascended hit this peak player count nearing its release, but it gradually declined to less than 20,000 by the time 2024 rolled around. For reference, before this UE5 remake was released, the first game had maintained a healthy average concurrent player count of over 50,000 just on Steam.
As one would expect, there have been notable player activity spikes around the time remade expansions went live for the new game. With ARK Survival Ascended: Scorched Earth, this spike was bigger (almost 45,000) thanks to a free weekend right after release.
Right now, as The Center has freshly released, ARK Survival Ascended concurrent player count fluctuates between 20,000 and 30,000 on Steam.
Going by statistics presented on Steamcharts, this number is expected to decline to 15,000, which seems to be the average measurement of the PC player base during the idle months between updates.
In comparison, the first game still retains 20,000 daily PC players on average even without exciting things like a possible mecha-themed crossover in its crosshairs.
All things considered, it's not a gloomy look for the future of ARK. Evolved simply beats Ascended right now by virtue of having much more content with almost a decade worth of DLCs.
However, as per ARK Survival Ascended DLC roadmap, most if not all of these DLCs will be ported over to their UE5 iterations by 2025. By that point, more Evolved loyalists may migrate to the new game - but it is hard to say how the release of ARK 2 will impact this equilibrium.
Read more Ark Survival Ascended articles:
- Ark Survival Ascended: How to find and tame a Xiphactinus
- Ark Survival Ascended: All new weapons in Scorched Earth
- ARK Survival Ascended Explorer Note locations in The Island
- 5 best quality-of-life mods to use in Ark Survival Ascended
