Ark Survival Ascended: What to expect from the UE 5.5 update

Ark Survival Ascended is getting a massive upgrade to Unreal Engine 5.5. If you are familiar with Epic Games' computer graphics game engine, which was first showcased in 1998, you're well aware of how powerful it can be. While the Unreal Engine has improved in the last two decades, with the advent of technology, things are speeding up.

If you thought having cats in Ark Survival Ascended was a breakthrough, the update to UE 5.5 is going to raise the ceiling. We can already see it at work in games like Fortnite, which is used as a testing ground for the Unreal Engine. Suffice it to say, the sky is the limit.

Let's jump straight into what the developers had to say about the shift to UE 5.5

The Ark Survival Ascended UE 5.5 update is a massive undertaking by the dev team

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According to the details shared on the blog, this is currently the largest project the team is working on at the moment. Given the sheer scope, it is taking longer than anticipated. Nevertheless, there is a release window in sight. We can expect the Ark Survival Ascended UE 5.5 update to be pushed sometime between April 15 and May 15. 2025. At present, the focus is on eliminating bugs. These have occurred as a result of the upgrade of existing content.

There is some good news for fans who are low on storage space on their device. When the patch is rolled out, the benefits will immediately be seen. Key aspects of the game, such as performance, rendering, and load times, will improve. Additionally, aside from The Island, other maps will become optional. This will reduce the size of the base game drastically.

This is what the developers had to say about future content:

"We’ll be using the new tools available from the engine to improve our pipelines and workflow which should result in a higher quality product, this will primarily be noticed on new releases such as Ragnarok (which is currently being developed in the 5.5 version of the engine), Valgeuro, and Lost Colony. "

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The developers also hope that they will be able to find time to implement some of the new rendering systems from UE5 into content that is already live. As mentioned, given the sheer scope of the work, not all content in Ark Survival Ascended will get a do-over.

Coming to modders, there's some bad news. The development team will try their best to ensure mods work with the Ark Survival Ascended UE 5.5 update, but that may not be the case for all. This is what the developers had to say:

"We know there are concerns about modders when the upgrade happens and what this might do to the mods, we’re going to do our best to eliminate as many crashes as we can, and of course resolve issues (which will occur as we resolve them ourselves) that impact mods."

Given that mods tend to break or not function as intended after an update, this, unfortunately, will not be avoidable. However, there is some good news at hand. The developers continued by saying:

"We intend to make sure that every Premium Mod is functioning for release, along with a sampling of the most popular Free Mods, and the breadth of that should ensure the vast majority of mods work prior to the release."

"Our intrepid partners at Overwolf will be recooking all the ASA mods automatically for UE 5.5, and while some of the thousands of mods may potentially have new functional issues upon UE 5.5, if there are any modding-specific issues caused by the Engine upgrade, we’ll work to fix them expeditiously (chances are, we may be facing it too)."

For future updates, the developers will try and see if mods can be left working as is after an update. Furthermore, a full engine upgrade will not be done more than once per year.

If you do not want to read all those paragraphs, here is a condensed version of things (hopefully, you do read this):

5.5 Upgrade is still underway, targeting launch between April and May.
UE 5.5 is the top priority for the team.
Some immediate performance benefits, more performance, and graphical benefits long term, as we continue to develop the product.
Additional maps will immediately become optional downloads.
All Mods will be automatically recooked by Overwolf, but it is possible some Mods will have new issues. We intend to directly check & verify all Premium Mods and the most popular Free Mods, which should provide a pretty good spectrum of functionality. We’re going to do our best to resolve any gameplay discrepancies and crashes ahead of time.
Hoping that future upgrades won’t be as painful – will be looking into longer-term systems to, in particular, load old cooked data, and shaders.

On an ending note, coming to Ragnarok. With Ark Survival Ascended shifting to UE 5.5, the map will be delayed for a while. Until the update is live and functioning, the map will be released. There is good news as we have a release date slated for June 2, 2025. This is what the developers had to say about the delay:

"We recognize that this is disappointing as we know how beloved this map is, and we’re going to do our best to ensure that it meets your expectations when it releases. We’re also fortunate, and thrilled, to be working with the original creators of the map, who’ve recently rejoined the studio and are helping us get it out the door for June 2nd, ride or die!"

The developers are also working on a little "Eggcellent Adventure" event that will take place during April. The exact date is yet to be confirmed. It may occur after Easter, but for now, it's best not to jump to conclusions, as a clearer picture about everything will come to light later this month.

That is everything you need to know about the Ark Survival Ascended UE 5.5 update. This will be a major shift in-game in terms of performance and will help ensure smooth gameplay for the foreseeable future. Expect to get an update soon.

Read more Ark Survival Ascended articles here:

About the author

Matthew Wilkins is one of the top writers at Sportskeeda Gaming, having crossed 15 million views in just over three years. Matthew currently writes for Fortnite, MMO, and other sections as well. Speaking with developers of the Total War franchise and reviewing numerous AAA games have been key milestones in his career so far.

Matthew is a Communicative English Major, and his skills and experience have helped him dig deep in the world of esports and gaming journalism. He prioritizes accuracy and ensures nothing is second-guessed. Being connected to the community is an important aspect of his life, as it helps him keep track of credible insiders and leakers to be among the first to report on breaking news.

Matthew grew up playing video games, with Age of Empires serving as his gateway into the world. Currently, he leans towards real-time as well as turn-based strategy games, 4x, and similar genres, and frequently binge-plays solo or multiplayer titles on PC. His love for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Stellaris are unparalleled, matched perhaps only by Fortnite. Matthew is also a vocalist and performs a variety of genres like Glam Rock, Pop, Heavy Metal, and Rock when not writing.

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Edited by Angad Sharma