ARK: Survival Evolved

Open-world survival crafting with dinosaur taming and base building

Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, Virtual Basement LLC · Published by Studio Wildcard, Snail Games USA · Released Aug 27, 2017

Action Adventure Indie Massively Multiplayer RPG

Reviews: Very Positive; 83% of 778K
Recent reviews: Very Positive; 84% of 2,376 in 30 days
Playing now: 11K; right now
Steam Deck: Verified
Last update: 8 months ago; Jan 16, 2026

Metacritic: 70/100 (critic reviews)

What is ARK: Survival Evolved?

An open-world survival game set on a mysterious island where you gather resources, craft equipment, build shelters, grow crops, and manage hunger, thirst, and temperature. You can hunt, tame, ride, and breed dinosaurs while playing alone, cooperatively, or with other players, with escape as the broader goal.

For you if...

+you enjoy open-world survival, crafting, and base building
+you want to tame, ride, and breed dinosaurs
+you prefer playing survival sandboxes with friends

Not for you if...

−you dislike managing hunger, thirst, temperature, and inventory weight
−you prefer guided progression over open-ended sandbox play
−you dislike demanding survival systems and frequent setbacks

What players say

83% of 778,050 reviews are positive · 84% of 2,376 in the last 30 days

Players praise dinosaur taming and breeding, base building, exploration, and cooperative survival. Common complaints include crashes, longstanding bugs, instability, and very large storage requirements; players also say the Aquatica update broke mods, servers, settings, or saves, with several recommending the pre-Aquatica version.

Screenshots and trailer

ARK: Survival Evolved system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions)
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 or better
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 670 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Storage: 60 GB available space
DirectX: Version 10
Notes: Requires broadband internet connection for multiplayer

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Full controller support
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Achievements: 32
Steam features: Workshop, Cloud saves, Family Sharing

Steam Deck: Verified

All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
Shows Steam Deck controller icons
In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
External controllers are not supported for the primary player

Multiplayer and co-op

Languages

Full audio: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Finnish, Japanese, Korean.