ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition's Impressive Debut: 3 Million Downloads in Three Weeks
ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, the free-to-play mobile spin-off of the popular ARK: Survival Evolved franchise, has achieved a remarkable milestone. Launched on December 18th, 2024, the game surpassed three million downloads within its first three weeks, significantly outperforming the original mobile port's 2018 launch. This success is noteworthy, especially considering the game's mixed initial reviews.
Developed by Grove Street Games and published by Snail Games, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition offers players a familiar survival experience: resource gathering, crafting, base building, and dinosaur taming. The game's popularity continues to grow, currently holding a respectable position in iOS and Android app store rankings. While App Store ratings sit at 3.9 out of 5 (based on 412 reviews), the Play Store boasts over 52.5K user scores, resulting in a 3.6 out of 5 rating.
Looking ahead, Grove Street Games plans to expand the game's content with new maps – Ragnarok, Extinction, Genesis Part 1, and Genesis Part 2 – further enhancing the player experience. The game's availability will also expand to the Epic Games Store in 2025, offering players greater platform choice. This successful launch adds to Grove Street Games' track record, following their work on the improved Nintendo Switch port of ARK: Survival Evolved in 2022. The future of the ARK franchise remains promising, though the release date of the highly anticipated ARK 2 remains uncertain after missing its 2024 target.
Key Takeaways:
- Rapid Growth: ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition achieved over 3 million downloads in just three weeks.
- Mixed Reception, Strong Performance: Despite mixed reviews, the game's popularity continues to climb on both iOS and Android.
- Future Expansion: Grove Street Games is actively developing new maps and content for the game.
- Multi-Platform Availability: The game will soon be available on the Epic Games Store.