Ark: Survival Evolved getting playable animals, more official mods later this year

Ark: Survival Evolved, the dino-survival sim, will expand with new features, biomes and official mods later this year, developer Studio Wildcard announced during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2016.

Players of the base game will be able to explore the Redwood Biome, a new area type based on vertical exploration, where communities will be able to build treetop bases and soar between platforms with tamed pterodactyls and grappling hooks. Players will also be able to discover and tame the Titanosaur, a new dinosaur, and the largest in the game so far. Players will have to knock out the Titanosaur using siege weapons — not narcotics — and will be able to build mobile bases on their backs.

A series of mods will be incorporated into the game in an official capacity later this year, including the Primitive Plus mod, which adds more role-playing features — like deeper trade systems and player-run storefronts — to Ark. That mod will be added to official servers in July. Egyptian developer Instinct Games is also working on an official mod called Ark: Primal Survival, which will allow players to control any animal in Ark, and tasks them with breeding, raising a pack and competing against the island's other inhabitants. That mod is expected to launch later this year.