ARK Spinoff Reaches Major Player Milestone with Free Play

Summary

• ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition surpassed 3 million downloads within three weeks of its launch.
• The game has received mixed reviews but is steadily growing in popularity across iOS and Android.
• Grove Street Games plans to expand the dinosaur-infested world with new maps and content in the future.

The free-to-play mobile game ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition has reached over three million downloads just three weeks after launching. Released on December 18, 2024, this survival title is a spin-off set in the same universe as the 2017 hit ARK: Survival Evolved.

Despite receiving mixed critical feedback at launch, ARK: Survival Evolved achieved solid sales, surpassing one million copies even before its official release. Its enduring popularity led to a full remaster released in early access in 2023 as ARK: Survival Ascended, featuring a major visual upgrade. Beyond the main series, the Studio Wildcard-owned IP has spawned several spin-offs, with the latest being ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition—developed by Grove Street Games and now available on iOS and Android. This free-to-play survival game lets players gather resources, craft weapons, build bases, tame dinosaurs, and more, echoing the core gameplay of the console ARK titles.

On January 10, 2025, Snail Games, the publisher of ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition, announced that the game had been downloaded more than three million times in its first three weeks. According to the publisher, this launch outperformed the 2018 mobile port of ARK: Survival Evolved by 100% in download numbers. Snail Games also confirmed that Grove Street Games is actively developing additional content for the game’s dinosaur-filled world, including new maps such as Ragnarok, Extinction, Genesis Part 1, and Genesis Part 2.

ARK Mobile Game Sees Promising Launch Stats, Marks Another Strong Release by the Developer

While downloads on the App Store and Google Play demonstrate strong momentum, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition is also climbing the charts. As of now, it holds the 24th position among adventure games on iOS and ranks 9th among the top-grossing adventure games on Android. On the App Store, it has a 3.9 out of 5 rating based on 412 reviews, while on Google Play, it stands at 3.6 out of 5 with over 52,500 user ratings. This launch further solidifies Grove Street Games’ track record—they previously led the development of the enhanced Nintendo Switch port of ARK: Survival Evolved in 2022.

After debuting on official mobile storefronts last month, ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition is set to launch on the Epic Games Store in 2025, offering players more flexibility in where they download the game. Recently, Studio Wildcard shared an updated roadmap for ARK: Survival Ascended, teasing upcoming content over the coming months. Fans are now eagerly awaiting news on ARK 2, which missed its late 2024 release window.