Ark: Genesis' space-whaling turtle riders have been delayed into February
Turtle-y understandable
Ark: Genesis, the monstrous next expansion for Ark: Survival Evolved, has been delayed. Again. Well, half of it, at least. While the first bit of Ark's massive two-part expansion was set to embark last December, its release was later pushed back to January. This week, Studio Wildcard regret to inform us that we'll need to hold on a little longer before building a bungalow on a sea turtle, with Genesis now scheduled to arrive on February 25th.
Posting on the official Ark website, Wildcard explains that they've pushed the release back another month to give Genesis a bit more time to come together.
"This additional delay will no doubt come as a disappointment to everyone who is eagerly awaiting Genesis. We’re extremely sorry to push it back an extra month, but as we have been heads-down with the rest of the team polishing, balancing and putting the final pieces together, we really felt that the extra wait will be worth it both for the quality of the base game and the ambitious new expansion."
Wildcard's post does, at least, flaunt some stunning new screens of neon-tinted celestial whales (pictured above) and four-jawed terrors from the darkest deeps. Last I checked in on Ark, it was this hideous thing - a vast, stuttering forest filled with monstrous beasties and terrifying character models. But unknowable sea titans, getting munched on by even larger, less comprehensible oceanic gods.
Aye, that'll do it.
That's on top of what we already know about Genesis, which adds new biomes for vast oceans, volcanic rifts, low-gravity moonscapes and a big bog. There'll be a new AI companion named HLN-A, which will guide players through new missions and story beats. 'Course, you'll also be able to build a home on the back of a massive sea turtle.
'Til then, the Ark team hope to tide survivors over with a Valentines Day event - one they'd planned on skipping with the initial launch period. They've also just dropped an anti-meshing patch. Hopefully make it harder to fall through the world, into the feature void that exists beneath all games.
Part 2 of Genesis should hopefully still drop at the end of the year. Both parts can be picked up now on Steam for £27.79/$34.99/€29.99.