ARK Spinoff Reaches Major Player Milestone with Free-to-Play Model

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, a free-to-play survival game, has achieved a remarkable milestone by surpassing three million downloads within three weeks of its launch on December 18, 2024. This mobile spin-off, set in the universe of the acclaimed 2017 game ARK: Survival Evolved, offers players the chance to collect resources, craft weapons, build settlements, and tame dinosaurs, much like its console counterparts.

Despite receiving mixed reviews at launch, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition's success mirrors the trajectory of its predecessor, ARK: Survival Evolved, which also garnered a million downloads even before its official release. The original game was later remastered and released in early access as ARK: Survival Ascended in 2023, featuring significant graphical enhancements. Studio Wildcard, the owner of the ARK IP, has expanded the franchise with several spin-offs, the latest being ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, developed by Grove Street Games and available on iOS and Android.

On January 10, 2025, Snail Games, the publisher of ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, proudly announced that the game had reached over three million downloads in its first three weeks. This achievement marks a 100% increase in player downloads compared to the 2018 mobile port of ARK: Survival Evolved. Grove Street Games is also actively working on enriching the game's dinosaur-filled world with new content, 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

The strong performance in downloads on both the App Store and the Play Store indicates promising growth for ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition. The game currently ranks 24th among adventure games on iOS and 9th among top-grossing adventure games on Android. On the App Store, it holds a rating of 3.9 out of 5 based on 412 reviews, while on the Play Store, it has a rating of 3.6 out of 5 from over 52.5K user scores. This successful launch adds another feather to Grove Street Games' cap, following their work on the enhanced Nintendo Switch port of ARK: Survival Evolved in 2022.

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