ARK: Survival Evolved Split-Screen Update
By Dalton Cooper 26 January 2016
Studio Wildcard releases a single patch note for the upcoming update for ARK: Survival Evolved, revealing that it adds split-screen to the Xbox One version of the game.
Right before ARK: Survival Evolved landed on Xbox One, Studio Wildcard announced that an early 2016 update would add split-screen to the game. While we’re still not sure when that update is coming, we do know that the next update for ARK: Survival Evolved will be the one to add the hotly anticipated split-screen functionality.
Furthermore, it seems as though Studio Wildcard’s original plans for split-screen have now become more ambitious. Initially, split-screen in ARK: Survival Evolved was going to be limited to local co-op only, but now the developer has confirmed that split-screen will be available for both local and online players. This should help players get significantly more mileage out of the feature than they would have if it remained local only.
Having said that, the studio may want to address some of the lingering issues with the Xbox One version of the game before adding split-screen support. ARK: Survival Evolved on Xbox One suffers from frame rate drops, which plunge as low as 14fps at times according to Digital Foundry, and adding split-screen to the mix will likely only serve to exacerbate the problem.
Perhaps the patch will also address the game’s serious frame rate issues. As of right now, the only patch note is the one that discusses split-screen support, so there is still time for Studio Wildcard to implement more with the patch. Considering the fact that ARK: Survival Evolved is most popular on Xbox One, it would behoove Studio Wildcard to make sure that the game is working as intended in order to maintain its community leading up to the release of the full version this summer.
Of course, issues like this are to be expected in early access games. Those that purchased ARK: Survival Evolved through the Xbox Preview Program should have expected issues like this to be a possibility. If this upcoming patch doesn’t address the problem, Studio Wildcard could still address the issue in the future, and hopefully before the launch of the full version of the game.
The firm has also yet to address if split-screen is a possibility for the PC version of ARK: Survival Evolved. Even though the Xbox One version is more popular, ARK: Survival Evolved has sold over 1 million copies on PC, so it has enjoyed success on that platform as well. While most games forgo split-screen on PC, there are some gamers that would likely enjoy the feature.
While we wait for news on whether or not the PC version of the game will ever get split-screen, Xbox One owners should be able to enjoy the feature soon. It may make the already poor frame rate even worse on Xbox One, but Studio Wildcard still has plenty of time to fix the problem before the release of the full game in June, and ARK enthusiasts are likely to appreciate the option to play split-screen if they so desire.
ARK: Survival Evolved is currently available in early access on PC and Xbox One, and its full release is scheduled for June of this year across those platforms – as well as PS4.
Source: Survive The Ark
