The Switch version of the dinosaur-survival game Ark: Survival Evolved is ramping down its online support. Developer Studio Wildcard announced “with wistful hearts” that official servers for the Ark: Survival Evolved and its Ultimate Survivor Edition will shut down on August 31.
The game reached “over a million players” on Switch since the game launched in 2018. The Ultimate Survivor Edition is a remaster made by Grove Street Games.
“We want to thank everyone who has been a part of this journey,” the developers said.
Ark’s single-player modes and unofficial servers will remain “fully playable” after the official servers go dark on August 31. That’s a nice silvering lining, though playing online with other people is one of the game’s main appeals.
Unofficial servers will help people keep playing online, but it might not be as easy or the experience as consistent.
Ahead of the shutdown for official servers, Survival Evolved is available for $5 on the eShop, while the Ultimate Survivor Edition is marked down to $12.50. Both games are playable on Nintendo Switch 2 via backward compatibility.
The latest Ark game, Survival Ascended, is not available on Switch, but Studio Wildcard is working on it.