ARK: Survival Ascended has technical issues with its screen performance

ARK: Survival Ascended is a reimagined version of Ark: Survival Evolved rendered using the Unreal Engine 5 and is currently in its testing phase. According to a performance evaluation by Dsogaming, not only does Ark: Survival Ascended manifest certain graphical issues, but its optimization on the PC platform also leaves much to be desired.

Testers have highlighted serious concerns regarding the lighting design in the game’s forested areas. Trees radiate an intensely bright light, reminiscent of a Christmas tree, resulting in a rather bizarre visual experience. Furthermore, the game’s day-night transition is jarringly artificial. The developers employed an abrupt method to simulate the sun’s movement, causing stark and discordant changes in shadows across objects within the game. However, the overall graphical quality received a commendation, with special mention of the rich interactive details and animations between characters and their environments.

Another notable concern for players is the game’s relatively high system requirements. The official recommended and minimum system requirements are as follows:

Minimum Specifications:

  • Operating System: Windows 10/11
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 1080
  • DirectX Version: 12
  • Network: Broadband internet connection
  • Storage: 70 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: SSD required

Recommended Specifications:

  • Operating System: Windows 10/11
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel i5-10600K
  • Memory: 32 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
  • DirectX Version: 12
  • Network: Broadband internet connection
  • Storage: 70 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: SSD required

In Dsogaming’s evaluation, even when the test platform was powered by a Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 32GB DDR5 (6000Mhz) memory, and an NVIDIA RTX 4090, the game could only achieve an average framerate of slightly above 60 FPS at a native 4K resolution on low settings.

Ark: Survival Ascended was made available for early access on the Steam platform on October 26 and is set to debut on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S platforms in November.