Powered by Unreal Engine 4, Ark: Survival Evolved takes on the survival genre with a unique blend of emergent multiplayer cooperation and competition. Players awake naked and starving on the beach of a mysterious island among a herd of other confused humans. On ARK, they must then hunt, harvest, craft, research technology, and build shelters to protect against scorching days, freezing nights, volatile weather systems, dangerous wildlife, and potential enemies.

Use cunning strategy and tactics to tame and ride the many dinosaurs and other primeval creatures roaming the dynamic, persistent ecosystems across land, sea, air, and even underground. Build your character’s strengths and gain items, skills, and pet creatures using in-depth role-playing systems. Start a tribe with hundreds of other players to survive and dominate competing tribes...and ultimately discover the ARK’s true purpose.

The ever-expanding world of ARK is transformed today into a sparkling winter wonderland replete with limited time holiday items, challenges, and environmental details, including Reindeer Costumes and air-dropped presents from Raptor Claus himself! The biggest gift of all is that ARK: Survival Evolved is 40% off its regular price (now $17.99) through at 10 AM PST, Monday, January 4 during Steam's Winter Holiday sale. Go ride a dinosaur now!

Glistening snow blankets the ARK as the ambient temperatures drop, but Survivors can stay warm by decorating their homes with the new Holiday Lights, Decorative Tree, Wreaths, Wall-Stockings, Snowmen, and Giftable Loot-Containing Presents.

In place of Santa, Raptor Claus will dart across the night sky in his sleigh, air-dropping presents filled with high-end Loot Blueprints (or Coal for naughty Survivors). We suggest following him around to stock up, including on rare dropped ARK Gift Codes! Survivors also can earn Reindeer Costumes, Candy Cane Club Weapons, Santa Hats, and if they collect enough Coal, they might even be able to summon the elusive holiday-themed DodoRex to do their bidding for a limited time!

Also just in time for the New Year, ARK will be hosting one last massive Survival of the Fittest battle to close out 2015, this time for charity! The “ARK: Survival of the Fittest Naughty or Nice” event pits 100 vs. 100 Survivors, including streamers and past Tournament players, in a massive two-team elimination battle the likes of which has never been seen before. The 100 players on the winning Tribe -- either Tribe “Naughty” or Tribe “Nice” -- will get to divvy up $10,000 to donate to which charity they choose. Tune in to Twitch.tv at 9 am PST (12 pm EST) on December 29 to watch the epic three-hour event and cheer on your favorite Survivors!

Tame and ride one of 70-plus amazing dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, including gargantuan creatures on a scale never before seen in video games! Fly a Pterodactyl squadron over snow-capped mountains, race through the deep jungle with your pack of trained Raptors, tromp through a fortified enemy base along a convoy of gigantic Brontosaurus, or chase down prey on the back of a raging T-Rex. Players will quickly learn that dinosaurs aren’t the only dangerous creatures on the island. Other players are organizing rebel tribes to accumulate resources, experience, re-spawn points, and to construct sprawling villages and cities, with technology spanning the primitive stone-age to the modern electric-powered era and beyond. And they will fight to destroy anything they see as a threat.

Ark: Survival Evolved will include Oculus Rift VR/Morpheus support and a thorough integration of Steam community features such as Steam Economy and Steam Workshop for custom maps and mods. Players will also be able to host private/LAN servers, and have access to a custom-built version of the Unreal 4 Editor for creating mods. The world of ARK is designed to be player-oriented and ever-expanding!