Remember when Ark: Survival Evolved was announced to be getting an animated series with a star-studded cast including the likes of Michelle Yeoh, Russell Crowe, Elliot Page, David Tennant and Malcolm-bloody-McDowell? I sure didn’t! That was over three years ago during the heights of a worldwide pandemic, though, so I think we can forgive ourselves a little. Anyway, Ark: The Animated Series has now arrived out of the blue, dropping its first six episodes on streaming service Paramount+.
]]>Ark: Survival Evolved remake Ark: Survival Ascended has seen its cross-platform PVP multiplayer temporarily turned off for Windows 10 users in an effort to crack down on PC cheaters.
]]>Ark: Survival Ascended, the remake of dinosaur survival game Ark: Survival Evolved, has resurfaced with its first gameplay trailer, showing off its flashy Unreal Engine 5 graphics, improved physics-based destruction and overhauled user interface. The biggest reveal, though, is that the Ark remake will apparently drop on Steam later today.
]]>Ark: Survival Evolved's official servers will switch off later today, at midnight UTC on September 30th (1am BST October 1st). The closure is part of paving the way for the piecemeal remake Ark: Survival Ascended, which will release in Steam Early Access in October.
]]>Studio Wildcard have once again revised plans for Ark: Survival Ascended, the remastered version of dino survival sim Ark: Survival Evolved. The Unreal Engine 5 edition has now slightly adjusted its price, changed plans for the remastered expansions, and is now launching into early access sometime this October, slipping past its previous late summer window. Those still playing the orignal Survival Evolved have a small reprise, though, as the game's planned shutdown has moved from August to September 30th.
]]>The developers of Ark have revised their plans for the release of Ark: Survival Ascended, an Unreal Engine 5 enhanced edition of their dinosaur survival sim. It will now cost $60 rather than the previously planned $50, is no longer bundled together with ARK 2, and will instead include the remasters of Ark: Survival Evolved's several expansions - although most won't be available at launch.
Studio Wildcard also went into more detail as to why this upgraded version is no longer a free update, and why they feel it's necessary to shut down Ark: Survival Evolved's official servers.
]]>ARK 2 has been delayed until the end of 2024. The dinosaur survival sequel currently best known for having Vin Diesel in it, for some reason, was originally aiming for a 2023 release, but developers Studio Wildcard say they need more time.
To compensate, they're going to instead release Ark: Survival Ascended in August, a remaster of the original Ark: Survival Evolved that moves it over to Unreal Engine 5. That's the good news. The bad news is you can only buy it in a $50 bundle with the sequel (which won't be finished for at least a year), and that the original Survival Evolved servers will be switched off when Ascended launches.
]]>Hot (weeks) off the back of Sons Of The Forest and the Resident Evil 4 remake coming out, we're celebrating your bestest best, most favourite survival games this month. Your votes have been counted and tallied, and your accompanying words of praise and affection matched accordingly. But which game has survived to make it to the top of the pile? Come and find out as we count down your 25 favourite survival games of all time.
]]>More footage of online survival sequel ARK 2 was shown off at today’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, and we got to see another glimpse at the bizarre sight of Vin Diesel riding a dinosaur. Who does he think he is, Chris Pratt? Gawp in awe at the Unreal Engine 5 trailer below and try not to remember Babylon A.D. or any of the pants Riddick movies, I dare you.
]]>Hover-surfboards, flying platypus-like creatures, and Vin Diesel falling out of a wet pod - I already didn't fully understand Ark: Survival Evolved, but I can't deny its new expansion has piqued my interest. Out now, Ark: Genesis Part 2 invites players to jump into the game's final chapter, and play through the storyline that'll lead into its sequel. Oh, and David Tennant is in it too.
]]>"Is that Vin Diesel?" I asked, watching the announcement trailer for ARK 2. "Have they copied Vin Diesel's face?" Then he grunted. "IS THAT A REAL VIN DIESEL GRUNT?" Then he spoke. IT IS VIN DIESEL. Yes, Riddick/Groot/Dom stars in the sequel to Studio Wildcard's dinosaur-hunting sandbox survival game, which is... what is this even going to be? They also announced an Ark animated series with a voice cast including Karl Urban, David Tennant, Michelle Yeoh, Elliot Page, and Russell Crowe. What is going on.
]]>There's never been a better time to get into survival games on PC, as the recent revival of the genre means Steam is now awash in some truly great games, both in early access and in full release. There are more arriving every year, too, which is why we've done the hard work for you and ranked the very best survival games to dive into today. Fair warning - there are some early access games on this list, which mean they might be a little janky early on. Give them the time they deserve, though, and you'll find they often blossom into some truly great games over subsequent updates. We've only included the very best and most complete-feeling survival games on this list, though, so you can rest assured that every game here will leave you hungry for more. It's by no means exhaustive, but it should give you a nice selection of wolf-taming, base-building, carrot-picking action to choose from.
]]>I had a mate at university who got home pissed at 2am and decided to boil himself an egg. Great idea at the time. But he passed out on the floor, the saucepan boiled dry, and the egg began to combust. When my mate woke up, it was because his whole building was being evacuated because of the billows of rancid egg smoke from his kitchen. See that egg, in your mind's eye? That's ARK: Survival Evolved, that is.
]]>As well as a load of old Samurai Shodown games for free, the Epic Games Store is this week giving away Ark: Survival Evolved for keepsies. That's the one with the dinosaurs. The survival sandbox is still one of the most-played games on Steam, five years after first launching in early access, so maybe you're curious to see what it's all about?
]]>Listen, never mind that sharks are not the mindlessly violent animals we’ve been trained to fear, and simply additional victims of mankind’s global vertebrate binge. Dismiss, please, the ongoing cultural rehabilitation of this toothy swimmer, who is statistically quite poor at killing humans. Ignore also their adorable habit of falling asleep when you hold them upside-down. Forget it, forget it all. No more lovey-dovey thoughts for these wondrous aquatic beings, more maligned than malignant. This is a list about videogame sharks. And videogame sharks are the baddies. Here are the 9 deadliest sharks in PC games.
]]>There have been a great many games like Minecraft over the past decade. Which is to be expected, because who wouldn't want to capitalise on the runaway mainstream success of the geometric giant, one of the best-selling video games of all time? Minecraft has many interesting facets about it beyond the block bashing mechanics, so we've compiled our list of the best games like it out there right now so you can scratch that familiar mining and crafting itch.
]]>Looking for all the latest ARK: Survival Evolved admin commands and cheats? With a bit of knowledge of the console and how to enable various cheats, you can do pretty much anything you want in ARK: Survival Evolved. God mode, infinite stats, spawning items and dinosaurs. You name it, and we'll teach you how to do it below.
]]>It’s a little-known fact that the “ARK” in “ARK: Survival Evolved” is in fact short for “arsebark”. And that’s fitting, because that’s exactly what its latest DLC, Genesis, is like: a fart. And what a fart. Not an abrupt, spluttering guff, nor an undulating trouser howl that reduces its culprit to ever more contorted grimaces of shame as it continues. No, ARK: Genesis is a proper, merciless, nine-tins-of-beans ripper, unleashed in a crowded lift on a wet Monday morning.
I wouldn’t be half so childish if the developers hadn't already made a fortune from pre-orders, or if Genesis wasn't so bloatedly overpriced. I'd be reasonable, even, if it seemed they had attempted something beautiful and ambitious here and fallen short. But they haven’t. After hyping Genesis to high heaven, they’ve released an expansion that manages to negate everything that conceivably made it possible to call ARK a flawed masterpiece, while retaining every iota of the game-busting jank that made it feel like a shoddy, never-ending beta test.
]]>Dinosaur survive 'em up Ark: Survival Evolved has always had one problem. Exactly, and only, one single game-breaking issue. Until now, you couldn't build a castle on the back of a colossal sea turtle. Shameful, really. But after numerous delays, Ark: Genesis's sea-bound houses finally arrived earlier this week. Now it's just a matter of finding someone to lend you planning permission for that shell.
]]>Ark: Genesis, the monstrous next expansion for Ark: Survival Evolved, has been delayed. Again. Well, half of it, at least. While the first bit of Ark's massive two-part expansion was set to embark last December, its release was later pushed back to January. This week, Studio Wildcard regret to inform us that we'll need to hold on a little longer before building a bungalow on a sea turtle, with Genesis now scheduled to arrive on February 25th.
]]>HDR on PC hasn't improved much in 2019. Despite there being more HDR gaming monitors than ever before, the very best gaming monitors for HDR continue to be quite expensive compared to non-HDR monitors, and the situation around Windows 10 support for it is still a bit of a mess. However, provided you're willing to fight through all that, then the next step on your path to high dynamic range glory is to get an HDR compatible graphics card.
Below, you'll find a complete list of all the Nvidia and AMD graphics cards that have built-in support for HDR, as well as everything you need to know about getting one that also supports Nvidia and AMD's own HDR standards, G-Sync Ultimate and FreeSync 2. I've also put together a list of all the PC games that support HDR as well, so you know exactly which PC games you can start playing in high dynamic range.
]]>Hi, it's me! Yeah! No, nothing's wrong, all's good. I was just calling to see if you wanted some Steam Charts? ... STEAM CHARTS ... Yeah, that's right. No, no it's not. You don't? Oh, um, I already sent them over.
]]>Multiplayer dinosaur-riding island-surviv-a-thon series Ark: Survival Evolved has taken inspiration from my fever dreams and will be introducing giant sea turtles who double as islands which then double as an open construction site for your future home.
The next chapter in the ongoing Ark saga, known as Ark: Genesis, will be made up of two hefty expansion packs. These will introduce tameable albeit shapeshifting animals - new biomes, and something that's being referred to as "mission-based game mechanics" which I can only assume is a genetically mutated version of story-based missions. But frankly, it's all about my future tortoise island paradise.
]]>Hello friendly people! Welcome to the always-lovely, always-cheerful soft-play-of-fun-and-hyphens that is Steam Charts!
Today we're going to laugh together, learn together, and maybe, just maybe, if we're lucky, laugh and learn a little. Please, pull up a trouser, take a seat (take as many seats as you need - we have too many seats), and prepare to enjoy, laugh, and maybe even learn.
]]>Ark: Survival Evolved is nearly as popular now as it was at launch, so it's no great surprise that Studio Wildcard's Dino Riders-ish survival sandbox is still being supported. What is a pleasant surprise is that the new Valguero expansion will be completely free of charge, and released tomorrow. It won't require any existing DLC, and will include one new dinosaur to hunt or befriend; the agile and feathery Deinonychus, seen tussling with a Tyrannosaurus above. Below, a trailer taking us on a scenic tour of the multi-layered, 63 square kilometre new environment.
]]>There's a pirate MMO on the horizon, and its sea-farers look ambitious. Atlas is being made by Ark: Survival Evolved devs Studio Wildcard, and sets sail on early access today. It plops 40,000 players into the same fantasy world, where they compete to govern territory and can fire at any ship on the sea.
I spoke to project director/lead programmer Jeremy Stieglitz and creative director Jesse Rapczak over Skype. We chatted about singing to stave off boredom on voyages, player politicking, ship combat as a team sports game - and a plan to save every player before they die of old age.
]]>Few people realise that December is when we're at greatest risk from pirates, likely to mistake their bloodthirsty cries of "Yo ho!" for the merry "Ho ho ho!" of Father Christmas and run towards them rather than away. Capitalising on this behaviour, the creators of Ark: Survival Evolved tonight announced Atlas, an "open-world survival MMO" full of pirates. Word of Atlas leaked months ago but now it's official - and it's launching next week. It'll have us craft things, build ships and bases, sail, battle ships, fight ludicrous creatures, and murder poor newbies, a bit Ark-y but much larger and on the seas. Have a peek.
]]>Hello! This week John is doing a super secret special mission (playing a video game) so I, one of the other Alices, have taken over the Steam Charts. I am afraid that I do not put as much time as John into constructing elegant jokes that are several layers deep, though, which means you might even be able to tell which games are charting. I understand if this is a huge disappointment.
There are, however, some interesting shake-ups this week, if you've been following the Steam charts for a while. There are a couple of games that had their DLC charting last week without the main game, whilst the reverse is true this week. What does it all mean? I do not know. Consumer data is a mystery to me. Stop pre-ordering things.
]]>I’ve built an army of inflatable flesh bags that puff themselves up to three times their normal size and then launch into the air like oversized, leaky balloons. They’re called Gasbags, and they’re my favourite dinosaur in Extinction, the latest expansion to Ark: Survival Evolved. Whenever I don’t fancy aimlessly floating around on the back of one, I can load any metal I’ve collected into their giant inventories and puff my way back to base. They’re brilliant.
Extinction’s new creatures are some of the best in Ark so far: alongside the Gasbags you’ll find new friends including the lumbering, sloth-like Gacha, which drop semi-randomised loot from giant crystals on their back, a teleporting robotic raptor/spider hybrid called an Enforcer, and a Velonasaur, which can fan out its facial fins to transform into a walking machine gun that shoots quills, shredding armour in seconds.
]]>QUICKLY! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, QUICKLY! I've written the charts and there are some jokes and you have to read it!
One of the jokes is quite good!
]]>Dinosaurs walk the Earth again in Ark: Survival Evolved's third expansion, Extinction, which launched today. After bouncing around biodomes and comets and other strange habitats, the survival sandbox is coming home to Earth, where... oh no. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah damn you! God damn you all to hell! Unless the T. rex roaming the streets of a futuristic city in that ↑screenshot is just someone's pet, and the greenery overgrowing the buildings is just stylish planting, in which case I apologise and compliment you on the future you've created.
]]>Welcome to my nightmares. As chronicled last week, all human progress is wiped out by a Steam Sale. Where once we were a species that revelled in new, interesting ideas, pursuing our dreams, we are once more wedged neck-deep in the past, doomed to buy the same £40 five-year-old games until we rot and coagulate into a molten horror. Welcome to the Steam Charts!
]]>We've just passed the half-way point of 2018, so Ian Gatekeeper and all his fabulously wealthy chums over at Valve have revealed which hundred games have sold best on Steam over the past six months. It's a list dominated by pre-2018 names, to be frank, a great many of which you'll be expected, but there are a few surprises in there.
2018 releases Jurassic World Evolution, Far Cry 5 Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Warhammer: Vermintide II are wearing some spectacular money-hats, for example, while the relatively lesser-known likes of Raft, Eco and Deep Rock Galactic have made themselves heard above the din of triple-A marketing budgets.
]]>Hallo! Me again, filling in (slightly late) while John is handcuffed to a steering wheel for other duties. The Steam Charts were all shook up (mm mm mmh!) last week by the launch of Steam's summer sale, including propelling a lump of hardware into the top ten for the first time in ages. A number of older games have rocketed back too, boosted by sale discounts, and displaced several games from their near-permanent spots in the hit parade. Let's stroll down it and see.
]]>Sure, you might have tamed yourself an entire stable full of T-Rexes, but humans aren't the apex predators in Ark: Survival Evolved anymore. At least, that's the only conclusion I can reach when looking at a beastie with claws as big as your enormous dinosaur steed. Announced just today and due for launch this November is the third (and possibly final) expansion to the game, Ark: Extinction, featuring new environments, new tech and some very large monsters.
]]>As you stare out into the world, at the tumult and turmoil, perhaps you feel the only hope is to turn to the Steam Charts for its comforting predictability and stability. I'm sorry folks, but it's all gone batshit crazy in here too.
]]>I do enjoy Ark: Survival Evolved's process of turning real-world historical(ish) creatures into video game monsters. The abilities of its reinterpreted dinosaurs and critters seem to stem from one question: what would they do in a cartoon? This logic is delightfully evident as developers Studio Wildcard continue to overhaul older beasties with updated art and abilities, turning crocodiles into stepping stones, making a honking dino into an ambulant alarm system, and of course having raptors pounce to pin prey. Anyone who's seen dinosaur cartoons or movies knows that's how they work.
]]>A lot of people have tried to argue over the years that it's simply impossible to collate the top ten selling games on Steam from the last week, and then write a small comment accompanying each, beneath a screenshot. But today, for the first time, we hope to prove those people wrong.
]]>History, scholars agree, is a washing machine on a spin cycle with a brick inside: as it bounces round and round, the brick will often return to the same point but is slightly changed by an entropy that eventually will violently shake the machine to pieces then our ma will give us a right skelping for copying YouTube videos. The cycle returns to a familiar point soon with PixArk, a Minecraftbut based on a survival game based on Minecraft. Deadly murderous survival sandbox Ark: Survival Evolved recently left early access and now the friendly spin-off PixArk is about to enter it. The brick bounces on.
]]>As the feedback loop of Steam successes reaches an ear-shattering scream, this week we see last year's best sellers dominating the New Year's first week. So I refuse to live in the past. Let's look forward. Let's imagine what we might want from these behemothic developers.
]]>Another year over, a new one just begun, which means, impossibly, even more games. But what about last year? Which were the games that most people were buying and, more importantly, playing? As is now something of a tradition, Valve have let slip a big ol' breakdown of the most successful titles released on Steam over the past twelve months.
Below is the full, hundred-strong roster, complete with links to our coverage if you want to find out more about any of the games, or simply to marvel at how much seemed to happen in the space of 52 short weeks.
]]>Ho ho hello readers! It's Father Christmas here! I hope you've all been good boys and girls this year! Now, let me see, what have you all been wishing for? Goodness gracious, it's all PC games! Well, I wouldn't know much about those I suppose, but let's have a look...
]]>If life has grown a little too familiar and comfortable in Ark: Survival Evolved, you might fancy going somewhere weird with its new expansion, Aberration. While Ark's original land is an island paradise (aside from all the deadly dinosaurs and murderous survivors, obvs), Aberration is set inside a busted ark where life has been forced to develop underground across an elaborate cave system. Along with new alien species to collect and/or murder, this caveland brings new tools for getting around, from climbing picks to wingsuits.
]]>Strange things are coming to the depths of Ark: Survival Evolved next month in the form of Aberration, its second expansion. It seems geared more towards the high-tech end of things, set in a significantly more hostile location than the regular game. Read on for a trailer and some more info.
]]>I had it all planned out. I'd reach level 21 and unlock tranquiliser arrows, which I could then shoot at a triceratops to knock it out long enough to tame it. Then I’d craft a saddle for my newly-owned Trike (as it’s known in the game) and stomp around collecting more berries than I could feasibly eat in a lifetime. I’d use those berries – including Narcoberries, which help keep dinosaurs asleep while you tame them – to breed a small army of raptors, more Trikes and a flying Pteranodon to transport me around this tropical island. It was one arbitrary goal among an infinite sea of possible arbitrary goals in Ark: Survival Evolved [official site], a sandbox craft-and-survive multiplayer game set in a world where dinosaurs can be mounted with cannons. The game left early access two weeks ago, and here's wot I think.
]]>The first expansion for craft-o-sandbox survive 'em up Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] arrived while the game was still in early access, which was a funny move. But since Ark properly, fully launched this week, hey here comes another expansion. Developers Studio Wildcard today announced Aberration, which will explore the caves of a busted Ark filled with weird monsters. Along with new creatures like that legged anglerfish I'm told is called a Lantern Pug, it'll bring 50+ new items including climbing picks, wingsuits, and ziplines. That sounds like great cavefun. Have a look:
]]>Sandbox craft-o-survival mega-hit Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] stomps to a full launch next week, after two years in early access. After that long, ah, sure, schedules will get a little jumbled. So here's the launch trailer a few days early, which I'm told reveals some of the mystery of why loads of folks are thrown onto an island filled with dinosaurs, mythical animals, spaceman technology, and dinosaurs augmented with spaceman technology. The answer, apparently, is not "Because it's p. dang cool to have a load of dinosaurs stomping around."
]]>Ark: Survival Evolved, the current king of dinosaur hill, is not a simulation of any kind. Saurian meanwhile, new on Steam Early Access this week after a successful Kickstarting a while back, is a survival game that similarly appeals to our first childhood love, but wants to be more Walking With Dinosaurs than Jurassic World. Which is to say, a dinosaur life simulation based on contemporary science's best guess as the thunder lizards' lifestyle. The release version so far is fairly short on things to do, but has some meticulously-recreated dinos, the option to pick a doomed fight with a Triceratops, and the significant risk of getting eaten by your own mother.
]]>The dinosaur island sandbox Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] was due to leave early access and launch in full next week, but it won't. Developers Studio Wildcard announced over the weekend that they've delayed the launch from August 8th to the 29th, because things took longer than expected. That's game-making all right. Over the next few weeks, in the run-up to the actual proper launch for real, Wildcard and chums will be working on performance improvements, fixes for bugs and exploits, and more.
]]>Dino-themed survival sandbox, Ark: Survival Evolved [official site], is definitely not getting a PvP server wipe before release. That's pretty much what the Studio Wildcard devs said last year but behind-the-scenes they recently decided a mass wipe was in order and were on the verge of announcing the digital extinction event to the public. That's no longer happening.
Instead, players unhappy with the current state of existing official servers can choose to migrate over to a new server cluster after new code and infrastructure rolls out. In less technical language, you can swap the dino house you built on what turned out to be a haunted awful graveyard full of ghosts wielding duplicated C4 for a new build which hasn't had any reported ghost sightings yet.
The idea of a server wipe was officially smacked down last summer but has, I think, been coming up more frequently as the game's August 8 full release date approaches. I've noticed it on messageboards and, it turns out, it's been happening in the studio. A big reason for this is to try to combat cheating and hacking within the game. The specific problem which comes up a lot with Ark is "duping" which is where players use various exploits (including crashing servers) to duplicate items.
]]>Studio Wildcard have doubled the price of their dino-infested survival game Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] on Steam. The developers say that the price hike is "to ensure retail parity for the upcoming launch" which is on 8 August.
]]>After two years in early access, the dinosaur-riding sandbox survive-o-craft 'em up Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] will leave early access and launch on August 8th. It's not clear how much this will actually change the game, as creators Studio Wildcard say they still plan to keep adding things after launch, but perhaps they'll finally sort out Ark's performance problems. And if wishes were raptors, beggars would ride, eh?
Before then, Wildcard are still busy. Today they launched Ragnarok, a free fantasy-ish makeover mod and new island. It's the first mod from the Ark Sponsored Mods Program, which pays modders to mod, to get be officially added to Ark.
]]>Hello. I've had this brilliant new idea! Each week I shall tell you which are the top 10 selling games on the PC gaming outlet Steam. No, no, this is nothing like Alec's idea that he had - he did it on a Tuesday. This is entirely different.
]]>Huge hyenas, wall-crawling reptiles, megasloths, toilets, and more have hit Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] in the early access dinosaur island survive 'em up's latest content update. I'm sorry to say you cannot ride the corpse-devouring big dog, only become its best friend for ever and ever and love it and walk it every day.
I'm still fascinated by how Ark turns real(ish) creatures into video game monsters, exaggerating characteristics to create unique abilities. This translation also extends to human biological functions: poo in the toilet and you'll get an XP buff. And in the game.
]]>Sharks are cool. Lasers are cool. What happens when you mash them together? You get the latest update to ARK: Survival Evolved [official site], in which sharks can shoot lasers from a saddle on their back and giant bees roam the redwood forests.
]]>He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious? He wrote the weekly Steam charts. She read them.
What more can I say?
Other than that these are the ten Steam games with the most accumulated sales over the past week, obv. See ya later, boy.
]]>You woke up this morning, got yourself a gun, Mama always said you'd be the chosen one to write the weekly Steam charts. These are the games which sold best on Steam last week.
This week: order returns. OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY OBEY
]]>The makers of dinosaur-y sandbox survival game Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] have launched a scheme sponsoring mod development with actual real cash money. Every month they'll pay fifteen modders (and teams) $4,000 (£3.2k), with a view to potentially including their finished mods in the full game - as they have with others before. The first round includes everything from moonbases to islands inspired by albums. Mods can be huge for the long-term health of games, benefitting players and developers, so slinging them a big bag of bucks is a pretty great move.
]]>'Til all are one, it's only the weekly Steam charts! These are the ten games which sold best on Steam last week.
It's one of those 'just copied and pasted all the HTML from last week' kind of weeks. This is GOOD because I am lazy but BAD because there is little new to say. Fortunately, I've brought a friend along with me this time.
]]>By the power of Grayskull, it's only the weekly Steam charts! These are the games which sold best on Steam last week.
It's all gone a bit 2015-2016 in here again, I'm afraid, but fortunately cavalry of a sort arrives in the pendulous form of some big ol' swingin' dicks.
]]>Heavens to Murgatroyd, it's only the weekly Steam charts! That is to say, the ten games which sold best on Steam last week.
After a string of backwards-looking weeks, it's beginning to look a lot like 2017 at last.
]]>It's the weekly Steam charts! These are the games which sold best on Steam last week. This week, it's the first true chart of 2017, as the last one covered the arse-end of 2016. All change, all change.
I'm even going to do this one upside-down. New year, new rules! And I don't want to spoil the surprise right away.
]]>Out with the old, in with the new. By which I mean 'and our weekly Steam Charts, showing the ten games which sold best over the previous week, returns - replete with most of the same names as last year.'
SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT AND NEVER BROUGHT TO MIND?
Welcome back.
]]>Open-world dinosaur survival sandbox Ark: Survival Evolved is getting a virtual reality spin off, named Ark Park [official site]. It'll offer a theme park to wander around gawping at dinosaurs, obvs, and players will even be able to import their own dinos from Survival Evolved to hang out. I don't know why they haven't gone with the clearly-superior name of Jurassark Park. Could've got a low-framerate Dickie Attenborough lookalike clipping into the terrain, a Jeff Goldblum rubberbanding as he pummels dodos to craft himself a damn shirt.
]]>A cute new megasnail has arrived in Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] and it is useful for... what, would you guess? You've got it: Achatina Limusegnis mucus can be used as glue. That's an easy one. What about the new ceratopsid Pachyrhinosaurus Mitisaura? If you guessed that it emits a calming scent when threatened, you've cheated and already looked at the answer you filthy rotter. I do enjoy the weekly routine of guessing what wacky gadgets dinosaurs are turned into with each Ark update. This week's patch adds four of 'em and also kicks off a Thanksgiving celebration with deadly 'Super Turkeys'.
]]>Iron Man-like supersuits of power armour are coming to Ark: Survival Evolved [official site], developers Studio Wildcard have announced, as part of the end-game 'Tek' tech tier. You might begin the multiplayer survival sandbox wearing grubby underpants and waving rocks and sticks, but eventually players will be supersprinting, jetpacking, superpunching in power armour, and riding dinosaurs caked in cyberguns like Dino-Riders toys. But it's not all punching dinosaurs in the face; the Tek tier will also bring new buildings like undersea bases. Have a butcher's at cyberdinos in this trailer:
]]>The Big Spooky isn't until Monday but plenty of games are already celebrating Halloween with special events for people with nerves of steel and eyes in the back of their head. If you're feeling extra brave, check out our collection of spookyspoos going on this weekend. This isn't a definitive list, mind, just a fair spread of things you might fancy trying. Do share your favourites too!
]]>I am delighted every time a new Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] update turns a dinosaur into a wacky gadget. From Archaeopteryx hang gliders to sauropods you can build mobile fortresses upon, the sandbox survival game has a fascinating and violent Flintstones logic. Procedurally-generated worlds are probably the biggest feature in last week's update but I'm more interested in its new giant salamander. Can you guess what it's useful for? Oh, y'know, you can ride it underwater and use it as a mobile oxygen tank by sucking air from bladders inside its head. Of course you can.
]]>I had all the characteristics of a blogger — frayed jeans, opinions, laptop, tea — but my depersonalisation was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to compile charts had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating top ten articles, a rough resemblance of a best-sellers list, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning.
And yet.
]]>Every Monday we send Brendan to the far-flung reaches of the early access galaxy. And sometimes we even receive a report back. This week he finds himself stranded on a stormy, alien-infested planet in Osiris: New Dawn [official site].
I have survived many things – the dinosaurs of ARK, the mad men of Rust, a degeneration of the self in DayZ. This makes me perfectly suited to colonise and thrive on the dusty, Mars-like planet of Proteus 2 – the only map of this new survival game. I crash-land on the planet, patch my suit up with duct tape and set off for the great unknown. I reach a huge crater and peer in – what riches will I find here? What wonderful discoveries? Oh, look, a giant worm has leapt out of the ground. I have discovered a giant worm. Also, I have been eaten.
]]>Meer stared at himself in the mirror. Was he really a man anymore? Or was he just a machine made of meat that endlessly pasted the same handful of game-names into a CMS post, week after week until he died?
Or was he dead already? Was this hell? Yes, that must be it. What else could writing "a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/Grand-Theft-Auto-V" for an eternity possibly be?
Yet still, there was faint hope in those dim, anguished eyes. Hope that one day there might be new games, new hyperlinks, new opinions to be expressed. One day. But not today.
]]>Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] caused a kerfuffle recently when the open-world dinosurvival game launched a £15 expansion despite still being in early access. Even an unsatisfying response from developers Studio Wildcard didn't stop the Scorched Earth add-on from topping the Steam charts, mind. Anyway, now Wildcard are back to free Ark content updates, boshing in two new flying dinos and bringing more desperately-needed performance optimisations.
What's going on in that picture ↑ up there? Ah, that's some folks using the new Archaeopteryx as hang gliders. Just another day in Ark.
]]>Cos this stuff comes up in comments most every time I run one of these: these charts depict the top ten best-selling games on Steam as accumulated over the week leading up to Sunday just gone. They are not what are the top ten best-selling games at this moment in time, as seen on the front-page of Steam and which are invariably a little different. They come from this here Valve RSS feed. If there is any massaging of figures or weighing of e.g. revenue earned vs copies sold then I do not know of it, but neither can I say for certain that there is not. This is, however, pretty much all that Steam ever lets slip about what's going on, though you can look to the guesstimates on Steam Spy if you want to try and drill down further into actual figures.
So: Steam's ten biggest games last week. Well, nine and a half. Deus Ex has been dethroned already.
]]>How do you tell the difference between a Bactrian camel and a dromedary? The Bactrian has two humps, which look like a B, while the dro- yeah, they're different species. Different types of camel. No, they live in entirely different places too. They- no, I just thought you might like to know. I don't know, maybe it'd be a pub quiz question. I don't know, maybe you do pub quizzes. The- look, I don't even know why I brought it up, as the new Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] desert expansion doesn't even have camels. No, instead desertfolk ride a dinosaur called a Morellatops which - hey, its back does look a bit like a sat-on M! Remember that one for the pub quiz.
]]>Last week's best-sellers, today. Most of the recent mainstays are still hanging on in there, but it's goodbye to Dead by Daylight (for now, at least). We do get two intriguing new entries, one glowering and one that is ALL THE FISH. Number one, meanwhile, is probably the number one you expected. That's right: Limbo of the Lost is back-back-back!
]]>Now I'm no Tricky Dicky Dawkins - I've never watched dogs 69ing, for starters - but I do know the definition of, and delineation between, species is hazy. Consider the case of Ark: Survival of the Fittest [official site]. The multiplayer Battle Royale 'em up started as a mode for crafty survival sandbox Ark: Survival Evolved. A subspecies, right? Then it was spun off into a standalone free-to-play game. Separate species? Not quite: Survival of the Fittest is now merged back into Survival Evolved so it can use the Development Kit mod tools. Mutation merging to spawn new mutations? I don't know, man. 6,000 years old and this Earth is still full of surprises.
]]>We're well past the halfway point of 2016 now, and there are several games which have been in the Steam top ten for almost every week of the year so far. I feel a bit ill thinking about all the money involved. This week's - or rather last week's, this chart reflecting sales up until Sunday just gone - is a bit of a remix by recent standards, at least.
]]>What are you playing this weekend? No, no don't tell me yet. But if you're short on ideas, you might fancy a look at Ark: Survival Evolved or Rainbow Six Siege. Both games have kicked off free Steam weekends, letting people play the full versions until Sunday evening. They're both on sale too. If a spot of dino-hunting survival or wall-busting SWAT sounds up your alley, here you go!
]]>Not much moving, not much shaking in last week's top ten best-sellers, as the after-effects of the Steam sale are still felt and, without many major new releases or breakout hits, there's that creeping sense of PC games in 2016 returning to business as usual. HERE COMETH THE BRANDS. We do get one new entry though, and it's a pretty one.
]]>No new indie millionaries this week: we're still looking at the consequences of the Steam Summer Sale, so the weekly list of best-sellers is entirely devoid of new releases. Hordes of people who'd sat on the fence about 2015's big games jumped on the discounts, and that means many familiar names. Of course, you discerning bunch went and bought all the games we recommended instead, didn't you?
]]>A shorter than usual weekly Steam best-sellers chart this week, primarily because almost everything is explained simply by the words "Steam Summer sale", but partly because I've already spent a chunk of today compiling a big list of Sale recommendations to help our beloved readers' purchasin' decisions. You can have a pithy and/or explantory line about each game next week, promise. Meantime: these are the ten best-selling games on Steam last week. Expect next week's to look wildly different, thanks to the ongoing and regularly changing sale.
]]>Studio Wildcard describe the latest dino to breech the shores of Ark: Survival Evolved's [official site] fantastical technoisland as "extremely rare." Which is just as well, I reckon, because, well, have you seen the size of the blighter? The Titanosaur enters the multiplayer survival 'em up courtesy of its v243 update, which also extends the existing Snow Biome and introduces the new Redwood Forest area. Pop below to see the new ruinous locale in situ, as well as some moving pictures of the newest debutante.
]]>Like a man dancing to Belle & Sebastian, last week's best-selling Steam games saw some shaking at the top but not a lot of movement below. IS YOUR FAVOURITE GAME HERE AND WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT YOU AS A PERSON IF IT'S NOT?
]]>The thing I remember most strongly from the Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] segment at E3 was the ridiculously massive Titanosaur which you can build on and wondering how long before someone modded that to reference the Discworld arrangement of the space turtle A'Tuin and elephants. Oh, there's also the introduction of the upcoming Redwood Biome and an explanation of why/how you can fling poop.
Now I've had time to actually go back and watch the segment properly so here's the deal - watch from 40:15ish:
]]>I am genuinely surprised by which game sold best on Steam last week (previous weeks here, btw). PC gaming remains beautifully unpredictable, doesn't it?
]]>Here's yer weekly top ten Steam best-sellers. That being what most tore up the charts last week. Is DOOM still king? What happens to Total Warhammer now it's actually released? And what in the name of all that's holy is YouTubers Life?
]]>Phew: we have nine different names in the top ten sellers on Steam last week, rather than the recent trend for various pre-orders and season passes splitting the vote excessively. Question is, has Joe/Jo Public responded as rapturously to DOOM as Ian/Iana Critic has?
]]>Given that Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] is a multiplayer survival game where dinosaurs and mythical beasts roam a technoisland, you might expect its world to be a little more... unreal. In which case, oooh! Check out the weird impossible fantasy land added free with yesterdays update. The Center is a huge world with hovering mountains, unlikely grand rock formations, ancient underground lavaruins, underground forests, ice temples, a rocky lavaskull, and world-ending waterfalls, which all looks far more fitting! It's now live, with 100-player official servers to fight on and all.
]]>Well, more accurately it's The Souls Your Destination, but Dark Souls III being a chart-topper is old news now. This week's Steam shaker-upper is Paradox's intergalactic grand strategy title Stellaris - but one of PC gaming's oldest men takes up residence in the top ten too.
]]>"These charts are supposed to be weekly, Meer." "I know, but I keep having to go away for unhappy reasons." "Oh OK, but you'd damn well better tell me what were the top ten best-stelling Steam games last week, or I'm going to spraypaint pictures of bottoms onto your house." "Alright, alright, here you go."
]]>Since storming the sprawling and ever-changing plains of Early Access last year, ARK: Survival Evolved [official site] has grown into a pretty comprehensive survival sandbox filled with crafting, cooking, foraging and, of course, frantically pegging it in the opposite direction from hungry dinosaurs. If you want to survive beyond the next localised extinction event, Matt’s beginner’s tips and resource guide make for essential reading, so too does his advice on the game’s islands, base building, and creature taming in turn.
But what about mods? How do you twist Studio Wildcard’s breakout open-world adventure playground to suit your own playstyle? Enterprising survivalists should check out the developer’s handy tutorial on how to create and distribute mods via the Steam Workshop over here, whereas those happy to enjoy the works of others should read on. These are the best mods for ARK: Survival Evolved.
]]>Dino survival game ARK: Survival Evolved [official site] has been a huge success for developers Studio Wildcard but clouds are gathering and those clouds look an awful lot like lawyers. Issues surrounding the game's origins and the soliciting of staff from Dungeon Defenders creators Trendy Entertainment will be heard in court next month, report Kotaku. If the outcome of that hearing grants the injunction sought by Trendy, development of ARK could be suspended and there's even a possibility that the game could eventually be removed from sale. Trendy's former creative director Jeremy Stieglitz is at the heart of the complaints.
]]>Fans Of Things Not Staying Exactly The Same All The Time will be glad to hear that the latest weekly Steam top ten is quite a changed one from the previous week. A new number one, surprise re-entries and a loosening of Ubisoft's chokehold on the charts.
]]>The trend of splitting games into two continues. ARK: Survival Evolved is carving off its competitive, Battle Royale-inspired Survival of the Fittest mode into a standalone free-to-play spin-off game of the same name. ARK: Survival of the Fittest [official site] challenges 72 players (or 200 on unofficial servers) to be the last person or team standing in an ever-shrinking arena. It's out now on Early Access.
]]>The latest update to early access multiplayer sandbox survival game Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] has brought with it giant beavers and also handcuffs. These are separate things, I think. You're not going to beaver prison as far as I can tell.
]]>Update your lists, gang: another video game has added a grappling hook and so become a Real Video Game. Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] is the latest to realise what's actually, really, properly, genuinely important to video games. You can even grapple onto dinosaurs. Even flying ones.
Dear lower-case-v video lower-case-g games, I hope you're enjoying your baby numbers and noises and data and pictures and words and emotions, but I hope you buck your ideas up. Swing on by when you're ready to talk. A xx
]]>So, you’ve just woken up on the shores of a deadly dinosaur-infested island; everyone is trying to kill you (or randomly offer you berries), and you don’t know what to do next. Don’t worry! We’re here to help! This small collection of internet pages will guide you from the preliminary stages of your prehistoric survival adventure in ARK: Survival Evolved right through to the, well, point where most of your deaths won’t usually be your own fault.
]]>ARK: Survival Evolved has a lot of great things going for it but, let’s be honest, all you probably really want is a dinosaur of your own. And yes, stomping around, terrorising people on a T. rex is brilliant fun - but, crucially, every creature on the island serves a multitude of practical purposes.
]]>One of the most productive things you can do early on in ARK: Survival Evolved is familiarise yourself with your surroundings. By learning the lay of the land, you’ll dramatically reduce your chances of getting lost (which can be one of the most frustrating occurrences early on in the game) and be far less likely to stumble unprepared into one of the island’s distinct biomes, each of which has its own weather quirks, environmental features, resources and wildlife.
]]>Once you’ve made it through your first few minutes on the island without dying (congrats!), you’ll want to consider building a base. A well-designed base will protect you from the elements, keep your gathered resources and supplies secure, provide a place to keep your crafting, cooking and farming equipment, and - most importantly - protect you and your creatures from the island’s hostile forces.
Whenever you log out of ARK: Survival Evolved’s servers, your body remains exactly where you left it, susceptible to attack from predators and, if you’re on a PvP server, other players. As such, a secure base is an absolute must if you don’t want to log back on to discover that you’ve become a glum-faced corpse, stripped of your hard-earned spoils.
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