Teased yesterday, ARK: Survival of the Fittest is now available for everyone to play for absolutely free. The game is dubbed as a “multiplayer online survival arena” designed in the vein of Battle Royale and the Hunger Games.
It originated as a mod for ARK and was first available as a total conversion for the game, offering 70-player online battles. Following its success and popularity, its creators at Studio Wildcard have “refactored” it into its own game, including four new modes, a ranking system, cosmetic-tiered rewards, lobbies, parties, and on-demand matchmaking, and a promise to keep it fresh with constant updates.
In addition to releasing it as a free game, its developers will be awarding top players with cash prizes in each “Survivor League,” so ARK can be played as a professional eSport.
In the game, survivors can form one to six person Tribes to play with in both Unofficial (player-hosted) and Official (Ranked) servers, using a variety of game-lengths, sizes and rules. Players will start in the forest environment seen in the original ARK, and its developers plan to add more environments and creatures later on.
The developers will award over $50,000 every month to the top 10 ranked players in each of the game’s four modes, which they refer to as the Survivor League.
The game is balanced for competition, and like Hunger Games, players will begin in a neutral staging area where they will face a countdown while in a circular formation. When the clock counts down to zero, players can choose to rush towards a cache of valuable items in the center and grab what they can or simply run into the forest and hide. Just like in the first movie.
Unlike Hunger Games, players can tame and ride dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures and use them to their advantage. Apart from that, players can equip a variety of weapons, set up traps, and build structures to aid in their survival and kill opposing players.
Grab it from Steam.
