Hit PC and console game ARK: Survival Evolved has arrived on iOS as a free-to-play download

ARK: Survival Evolved mobile features the full online survival experience contained in the PC and console versions of the game

The genre-defining dinosaur survival adventure game for PC and consoles, ARK: Survival Evolved, is now available on iPhone and iPad as a free-to-play download from App Store.

The title features the full online survival experience contained in the PC and console versions of ARK, including a gigantic island to explore, 80+ dinosaurs and primeval creatures to tame and train, multiplayer tribe mechanics, crafting and building and more.

ARK goes mobile

Here’s the official blurb:

ARK: Survival Evolved challenges you to survive and thrive on a mysterious island, where you start out alone and unarmed. Gather resources and craft tools to build shelter and hunt. Expand your domain while capturing and taming dinosaurs to do your bidding. Make new friends online, form tribes, and build mighty structures to defend against man and mega-predators alike.

But first, watch the official trailer for ARK: Survival Evolved mobile.

Some of the changes and additions they’ve made for mobile include the new interaction menu, a dedicated Undo button, Pursuits, creature revival, additional meters, craftable bee hives and other creature interactions.

Mobile features

Mobile features include:

  • Taming: Use cunning strategy and tactics to befriend, train, ride and breed the many dinosaurs and other primeval creatures roaming the dynamic, persistent ecosystems across land, sea, air, and even underground.
  • Discover: Unearth rare blueprints and Explorer Notes written by previous human denizens of the ARK from across the millennia, detailing the mysterious Island’s creatures and backstory.
  • Craft and build: Using any means necessary – survive, craft weapons, clothes and items, and build shelters, villages, or even large cities. Plant, harvest, build, level-up, and customize everything visually and functionally, including procedurally-generated RPG statistics for creatures, characters, resources, clothing, gear and weapons, both primitive and modern.
  • Play alone or team up to survive: Team up with, or prey on, up to 50 other players in a large-scale multiplayer online first-person environment, or choose single player mode to test your mettle against the world solo.
  • Join a tribe: The ‘Tribe’ system encourages cooperation, by supporting dynamic parties to share resources, XP, and respawn points.

And now, check out this gameplay video captured on an iPhone 7.

War Drum Studios, the developers behind the mobile port of the game, have confirmed launch of ARK: Survival Evolved for iOS and Android devices, saying that the free-to-play game includes in-app purchases that are entirely optional.

In-app purchases

“For those who never want to spend a dime on the game, you don’t have to. ARK: Survival Evolved is free-to-play on iOS and Android, and you can obtain every purchasable structure, item and buff in the game without spending any money,“ they wrote.

Aside from the completely optional timed XP Boosts and Free Gifts that can be redeemed multiple times per day in return for watching an ad, the game lets you spend real cash on a rare resource, called Ancient Amber.

Ancient Amber can also be obtained in a variety of ways:

  • Harvested from large predators
  • Found in Amber deposits scattered around The Island
  • Random chance to obtain from Free Gifts
  • From watching Ads
  • Random chance to obtain from stones picked up off the ground

As a virtual in-game currency of sorts, you can spend your Ancient Amber on things like additional structures, timed buffs, single-use consumable items and more.

Pricing and availability

As mentioned, the game is free to download. Due to its rich, detailed console-grade graphics, the game requires a relatively new device and supports all iPhone models from iPhone 7 onward, as well as all iPad Pros, iPad mini 4 and the fifth-generation iPad or newer.

An optional Primal Pass subscription ($3.99 per month, or $34.99 per year) gets you a permanent double XP buff, the removal of all ads, reserved slots on all servers, early access to news and upcoming special events and access to their Primal Pass-exclusive servers.

Grab ARK: Survival Evolved in App Store.