Ark: Survival Evolved Sinks With Launch of Aquatica DLC

Ark: Survival Evolved got broken by the launch of the Ark: Aquatica expansion on July 15, 2025, and has been hosting noticeably fewer players since the DLC’s release than average, according to Steam DB.

The title’s developer admitted the problems related to tons of broken user-generated content in the game, as well as issues with general performance, the very next day after the DLC launch.

In its latest statement dated July 18, 2025, the game’s developer reaffirmed that its top priority remains fixing an issue with the game engine in the live version of ARK: Survival Evolved, and the fix is in the works.

Since the release of Ark: Aquatica, according to SteamDB, Ark: Survival Evolved has generally maintained a concurrent player count mostly below 20,000. However, it reached a peak of 25,736 players over a three-day period once. Typically, the game’s concurrent player count doesn’t fall below 20,000 and often experiences daily peaks exceeding 30,000 players.

Notably, before its release, the Ark: Aquatica DLC caused massive community backlash due to AI shenanigans.

Ark: Survival Evolved tasks players with survival on one of several maps filled with dinosaurs, fictional fantasy monsters, different prehistoric animals, natural hazards and potentially other hostile players. The title is available on Linux, macOS and Windows PCs, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and both Android and iOS platforms.

As of the time of writing, the game has a “Very Positive” rating on Steam with 555,655 reviews and an all-time peak of 248,405 concurrent players, according to SteamDB.

The game was turned into an animated TV series titled “Ark: The Animated Series” by Paramount+, with the first part released on March 21, 2024, and the second part set to premiere in 2025.