ARK: Survival Ascended Roadmap 2026: Maps, DLC & Release Dates
Studio Wildcard committed to remastering the entire ARK: Survival Evolved DLC catalogue inside ARK: Survival Ascended across multiple years, plus brand-new content. The remastered maps are free for owners of the base game, but not everything is: original canonical expansions (Lost Colony), Adventure Packs (Tides of Fortune, $19.99) and expansion passes (Dragontopia, $29.99) are separate purchases. The full breakdown is in free vs paid below.
Sharing a server with PC, Xbox, and PS5 friends? See our guide on whether ARK: Survival Ascended is cross-platform. Every map ships with crossplay, but you need the right launch flags.
Update, 29 October 2026: on 30 September Wildcard shipped Gargantar for Dragontopia, the Cerberax (the second tame of the paid Fantastic Tames Season 1 pack) and the Therizinosaurus TLC. The Halloween event Fear Ascended went live on 28 October with v96.6, which Wildcard lists as a major version for servers and clients, and runs to 11 November. Next on the calendar, on 5 November: the Unreal Engine 5.8 upgrade, in a Public Test Realm beta since 5 October, with modding reopening once every mod has been recooked, together with the Giganotosaurus TLC and the Enigmasaur, which completes Fantastic Tames Season 1. Community Crunch 529 (24 October) moved the engine upgrade from 28 October and the two creatures from 6 November; 99.9% of mods are already recooked for UE 5.8. Xeranox, the next Dragontopia dragon, has no date yet, and neither does Genesis Part 2. Last verified: 29 October 2026.
Released Maps (As of October 2026)
| Map | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Island | Oct 2023 (base game) | The original launch map. |
| Scorched Earth | April 2024 | Desert biome, Wyverns, sandstorms, Manticore boss. |
| The Center | 2024 | Tropical archipelago + Underwater biome. |
| Aberration | 2024 | Underground radiation biome, Rock Drakes, Reaper Queens. |
| Extinction | 2024-2025 | Earth-corrupted biomes, OSDs, Element Veins. |
| Astraeos | 2025 | ARK: SA original map, Greek-mythology themed. Its 1.0 update, Heaven & Abyss, completed it on 27 August 2026. |
| Ragnarok | June 2025 (with Bison creature) | Norse-themed, Mount Gunners, Wyvern Trench. See resource map. |
| Valguero | Oct 2025 (with Megaraptor + Elderclaw) | 63 km², chalk hills, aberration trench. See Valguero guide. |
| Lost Colony | Dec 19, 2025 | First paid canonical ARK: SA expansion; original story content. See server setup. |
| Genesis Ascended Part 1 (free) | July 3, 2026 (moved from June 25) | The Genesis simulation map rebuilt in UE5, free to anyone who owns the base game. Launched alongside the separately paid Tides of Fortune naval expansion ($19.99). |
2026 Schedule
| Map / DLC | Expected | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis Ascended Part 1 (free) | Out now (July 3, 2026) | Shipped after a certification slip from June 25. Free with the base game; the Tides of Fortune naval expansion released the same day is a separate $19.99 purchase. |
| Genesis Part 2 (ARK: SA remaster) | TBA | No confirmed date; follows Genesis Part 1, whose July 3 launch reset the earlier cadence estimates. |
| Dragontopia | Rolling out now (through Dec 9, 2026) | Paid, non-canonical expansion pass made in-house by Wildcard. The dragons arrive in waves: shadow dragon Umbra first, light dragon Lumina on July 9, then Gargantar on September 30, with Xeranox announced next (no date yet) and a December drop culminating in a map-wide skyworld. |
| Fantastic Tames Season 1 (paid) | Out now; Enigmasaur November 5, 2026 | Three new tames delivered one at a time: the Burrowbuck, the three-headed Cerberax (September 30, the same day as the Therizinosaurus TLC) and the Enigmasaur, which completes the season on November 5. |
| Unreal Engine 5.8 upgrade | November 5, 2026 | Public Test Realm beta from October 5; moved from October 28 in Community Crunch 529 (October 24). The full update lands on all platforms on November 5, when modding reopens after every mod is recooked (99.9% were by October 24), so servers, clients and mods move together that day. |
| Giganotosaurus TLC | November 5, 2026 | A reworked Giga with a new taming challenge, dated November 6 in Community Crunch 527 (October 10) and moved to November 5, alongside the UE 5.8 upgrade, in Community Crunch 529 (October 24). |
| Fjordur (ARK: SA remaster) | December 2026 | Norse-realm map; free update at release. |
2027 Schedule
| Map / DLC | Expected | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantis | 2027 | Builds on ocean systems from Tides of Fortune; deep underwater + naval gameplay. |
| Bob's True Tales: Galaxy Wars | With Genesis Pt 2 (~2027) | Space combat: star fighters, bombers, capital ships, planetoids. The biggest tonal shift in the roadmap. |
Running more than one of these maps on a self-hosted install means a second server directory, a second set of ports and a manual character transfer. A managed ARK: Survival Ascended server switches map from the panel and keeps the cluster ID, so trying a new map does not cost you the old one.
Free vs Paid Content
- The remastered map expansions are free to base-game owners (The Island through Genesis Ascended Part 1).
- Lost Colony is paid: the first original canonical expansion, not a remaster.
- Tides of Fortune is paid at $19.99: the naval Adventure Pack that launched the same day as the free Genesis Ascended Part 1. The two are routinely confused because they shipped together.
- Dragontopia is the exception: a paid, non-canonical expansion pass built in-house by Wildcard, rolling out in waves through December 9, 2026 (Umbra, then Lumina on July 9, Gargantar on September 30, Xeranox next, more in December).
- Fantastic Tames Season 1 is paid: a creature add-on, on sale on Steam since May 20, 2026, that delivers the Burrowbuck, the Cerberax (September 30) and the Enigmasaur (November 5).
- Adventure Packs are optional paid bundles tied to map releases; they include unique creatures, cosmetics, and quest content. The map itself is still playable without them.
- Cosmetics + character skins (Bob, custom variants) are sold separately.
Crossplay Status by Map
Crossplay availability varies. PS5↔Xbox works on official servers; PC↔console is disabled on official PvP since January 2024 due to anti-cheat work. Unofficial servers can opt-in via -ServerPlatform=All. See our crossplay setup guide.
What to Pick If You're New
- The Island: start here. Less unique mechanics, more time learning the basics.
- Ragnarok: large, varied, strong community presence. See our resource guide.
- Valguero: newer (2025), more dense, all-in-one biome experience. See our map guide.
- Aberration: only after you've played another map. Steep learning curve.
- Genesis: mission-driven; strong if you want a structured campaign.
Migration Between Maps (Cluster Setup)
If you're running multiple maps, a cluster lets players move characters and tames between them. See our cluster setup and server migration guides.
Cover the whole roadmap. Host an ARK: Survival Ascended cluster with Supercraft and switch maps from a single panel as new DLC drops. Setting up the newest map? See Genesis Ascended server setup.
Managed ARK: Survival Ascended server hosting. Supercraft runs ASA dedicated servers on AMD EPYC hardware with CurseForge mods, every released map, raw INI access, daily snapshots and four regions. Still on Survival Evolved? We run ARK: Survival Evolved servers too.