CULVER CITY, Calif., Nov. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Snail, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNAL) (“Snail” or “the Company”), a leading, global independent developer and publisher of interactive digital entertainment, alongside Studio Wildcard, released ARK: Survival Ascended on PlayStation®5. This highly-anticipated launch introduces a new group of console players to an expansive world of adventure, complemented by the addition of 250+ mods to enhance gameplay experience.

Since the October launch of ASA on Steam and Xbox Series X|S more than 1 million gross units have been sold worldwide. Survivors on PlayStation 5 can now jump into freshly launched official servers with increased rates to welcome them onto the Island.

As part of our commitment to fostering creativity within the ARK community, Snail, alongside Studio Wildcard are excited to announce the ARKathon Modding Contest in collaboration with Overwolf’s CurseForge. With $350,000 in gaming rewards available, this unprecedented event invites individual modders and studios to unleash their imaginations and contribute to the ARK universe with the creation and publication of ARK: Survival Ascended mods.

ARK: Survival Ascended Key Features:

• Unreal Engine 5 Delivers:
  • Nanite mesh rendering allows incredibly high-detail assets directly within the game, which gets scaled and streamed onto the graphics processor in real-time, tremendously increasing the visual fidelity of ASA. This delivers more environmental details, including realistic rocky textures, accurate tree patterning, and flourishing fauna.
  • With fully dynamic “Lumen,” light now bounces realistically off of hundreds of millions of triangles for extreme detail.
  • Chaos, a physics destruction system, simulates large-scale destruction in real-time.

• Building Revamp: ASA has revamped building systems so players can construct the bases of their dreams with over 15 new structures, from tilesets to decor to gameplay-enhancing TEK Teleporters, combined with QOL improvements like structure snappoint improvements, raising/lowering foundations, to provide players with a lot more choice and reliability when constructing their bases!

• Ascended Physics System: Dynamic water so every creature creates waves, ripples, splashes, and bubbles as they move through fluids, and fully interactive physical foliage where every blade of grass, bush, and tree reacts to characters, explosions, projectiles, and physics objects. Knock down a tree and see it crash into other trees and disturb foliage on its way down to smacking into the grass below it! Demolish a building and watch the pieces break apart realistically, interacting with the grass and water as they fall.

• Extensive QOL and Gameplay Improvements: Thorough Quality of Life revamps in every area: redesigned User Interfaces, dynamic navigation for intelligent creature pathfinding, new Camera and Map systems, Dino Tracking System, Wild babies, added Structures and Items, and much more.

• Cross-Platform Modding: Download and play new custom content created by players, including new maps, creatures, items, and game modes, through a dedicated Mod-browser found directly within the game! Enjoy an endless stream of ARK content as the creativity and talent of the community are fully unleashed for the first time ever across gaming platforms! Through Overwolf’s CurseForge platform, mod authors are already building out exciting new content for ARK’s fanbase, including more dinosaurs, structures and weapons, while game developers such as Blue Isle Studios and Skymap Games are creating DLC-level Premium Mods.

• Cross-Platform Multiplayer: Form online tribes across different gaming platforms and work together to survive and thrive on the ARK!

• Multiplayer Options: Supports public online multiplayer for up to 70 players, private-session multiplayer for up to 8 players, and local split-screen for 2 or 4 players.
  

• Photo Mode: Use the built-in capabilities to share epic screenshots and thumbnails with friends. With a deep dropdown menu of settings, you can get the perfect shots of your favorite dino, put on your director's hat, and start filming the ARK movies you envisioned!
  
  

“We are truly excited about bringing the modding community into the spotlight with ARKathon. It's a celebration of creativity and innovation, and we can't wait to see the incredible mods that will elevate the ARK experience on PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam to new heights,” said Jim Tsai, CEO of Snail.

Watch the ARK: Survival Ascended spotlight trailer featuring some of the cross-platform mods now available for console HERE

ARK: Survival Ascended is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Windows PC , Steam, and playARK.com for $44.99.

About Snail, Inc.

Snail is a leading, global independent developer and publisher of interactive digital entertainment for consumers around the world, with a premier portfolio of premium games designed for use on a variety of platforms, including consoles, PCs and mobile devices.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “should,” “plan,” “intend,” “may,” “predict,” “continue,” “estimate” and “potential,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Snail’s intent, belief or current expectations. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of Snail’s business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, plans and objectives. The statements Snail makes regarding the following matters are forward-looking by their nature: growth prospects and strategies; launching new games and additional functionality to games that are commercially successful, including the launch of ARK: Survival Ascended, ARK: The Animated Series and ARK 2; expectations regarding significant drivers of future growth; its ability to retain and increase its player base and develop new video games and enhance existing games; competition from companies in a number of industries, including other game developers and publishers and both large and small, public and private Internet companies; its relationships with third-party platforms such as Xbox Live and Game Pass, PlayStation Network, Steam, Epic Games Store, the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store, My Nintendo Store and the Amazon Appstore; expectations for future growth and performance; and assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.

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