ARK: Survival Ascended Guide 2026: Maps, Crossplay, ARK 2 and Taming

What Is ARK: Survival Ascended?

ARK: Survival Ascended, often shortened to ASA, rebuilds the original ARK: Survival Evolved in Unreal Engine 5 with better graphics, new building tools and support for mods on every platform. You wake up on an island full of dinosaurs and other creatures, gather resources, craft tools and slowly tame creatures that help you fight, travel and farm. It released on PC on October 25, 2023, and the Xbox and PS5 versions followed in November 2023.

Is ARK Cross Platform?

Yes. ARK: Survival Ascended supports crossplay between Steam on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5, on both official and many unofficial servers. The older ARK: Survival Evolved is different: its PC and console versions do not play together, apart from Xbox and Windows players through the Microsoft Store.

Every ARK: Survival Ascended Map

• The Island: the starting map with every early game creature.
• Scorched Earth: a desert map with heat, sandstorms and wyverns.
• The Center: a floating island world with lava, caves and waterfalls.
• Aberration: an underground world with radiation and rock drakes.
• Extinction: a ruined city on Earth with giant titans.
• Ragnarok: a huge mixed map loved for building.
• Astraeos: a newer map that reached version 1.0 in August 2026.
• Lost Colony: one of the newer official maps.
• Genesis Part 1: released July 2, 2026, together with a free naval update. Part 2 has no release date yet.

ARK 2 Release Date

ARK 2 was first shown in 2020 with Vin Diesel, but it has been delayed many times. Studio Wildcard is now targeting a 2028 launch. Until then, ARK: Survival Ascended remains the main ARK game and keeps getting new maps and creatures.

Is ARK Coming to Nintendo Switch 2?

Studio Wildcard has said ARK: Survival Ascended is in active development for Nintendo Switch 2, but no release date has been announced. The original Switch only has the older ARK: Survival Evolved.

How Taming Works in ARK

• Knockout taming: most creatures must be knocked unconscious first with tranquilizer arrows, darts or a club. Then you put their favourite food in their inventory and wait.
• Torpor: an unconscious creature slowly wakes up. Feed it narcotics or narcoberries to keep it asleep until the tame finishes.
• Passive taming: some creatures, such as many small herbivores, are tamed by walking up and hand feeding them without knocking them out.
• Taming effectiveness: every time the creature gets hit while taming, it loses bonus levels, so protect it with walls or bolas.

A taming calculator tells you how much food and how many darts a creature at a given level needs.

Best First Dinos to Tame

• Parasaurolophus: easy to tame, fast and great for scouting.
• Triceratops: gathers berries and defends you well early on.
• Raptor: a quick mount for travel and light fighting.
• Pteranodon: your first flyer for exploring the map.
• Ankylosaurus and Doedicurus: gather metal and stone fast for building.
• Argentavis: a strong flyer that can carry small creatures and heavy loads.

Tame Dinosaurs Free in Your Browser

Dart, feed and tame a Compy, Raptor, Triceratops or Rex in Dino Tamer, or jump over cactus in Dino Run. Both are original games that work on phone and PC.