The complete guide · 5 min read
ARK 2 Server Hosting: The Complete Pre-Release Guide
ARK tribes plan long-term, so it is no surprise that people ask about ARK 2 servers years before launch. This guide sets out what is official about ARK 2, what that means for unofficial servers and mods, what is still unknown, and how Gaming Deluxe handles a game that is not out.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
What ARK 2 Is
ARK 2 is the sequel to ARK: Survival Evolved from Studio Wildcard, developed with Grove Street Games. You wake on a primal world where dinosaurs and humans fight for dominance, piece together how you arrived, and team up with legendary heroes against dark forces that want to control all life there.
Vin Diesel stars as Santiago, an ARK hero who wants to protect his daughter Meeka, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, from the ghosts of the past. The world mixes native flora and fauna with invasive primeval creatures from an extinct Earth, and the Aratai, a hostile people who ride their own tamed creatures, hunt human interlopers.
According to the Steam page, every part of the series has been rethought for the sequel. That includes how you move, fight, craft, build and track animals, which is why ARK 2 servers will not simply be ARK: Survival Ascended servers with a new map.
Where the Release Stands
The ARK 2 Steam page lists the release date as to be announced, and the minimum system requirements are still marked TBA. The page talks about the initial Early Access release, so Early Access is the planned first step.
The most recent timing came in December 2025, around publisher Snail Games' Investor Day. In an interview published on the Epic Games Store news site, Studio Wildcard co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz said the studio now plans to release ARK 2 in 2028. The same interview described Legacy of Santiago, an ARK: Survival Ascended expansion planned for late 2027 that acts as a prequel to the sequel's story.
| Item | When | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy of Santiago (ASA expansion) | Late 2027, planned | Studio Wildcard interview, Dec 2025 |
| ARK 2 release target | 2028 | Studio Wildcard interview, Dec 2025 |
| Steam store date | To be announced | Steam page, checked 31 Oct 2026 |
Unofficial Servers and Mods in ARK 2
For server owners, the key line on the Steam page is about mods. Fully stackable, user-created mods for new creatures, items, gameplay features and maps are to be distributed across all platforms, together with support for modded unofficial servers. In the ARK games, unofficial servers are the community-run servers that tribes rent from hosts and set up with their own rules and rates.
The sequel also aims to make large bases less of a burden. Instanced rendering and network streaming are meant to give much higher client and server performance for big player-built structures, with a longer draw distance. Survivors can save building templates, share them and lay them out in the world before building as a team.
What is missing is just as important. Studio Wildcard has not published how unofficial servers will be distributed, which settings admins get, how many players a server holds, or how crossplay will work for unofficial servers. Hosts that quote any of those today are guessing.
Gameplay Changes That Affect a Server
Combat in ARK 2 is built around player skill: target lock, blocks, dodges, combos, staggers and special attacks. Movement adds mantling, free-climbing, parkour, sliding and swinging. Together they change how raids and base defence play out, and therefore how a PvP server's rules need to be written.
- Creatures: no omnipresent radar; animals hunt by sight, sound and smell, and dynamic pathfinding lets them move around obstacles and structures.
- Crafting: weapons and tools are assembled from modules, and the materials you use change how they look.
- Progression: experience points from play and knowledge points from objectives feed a large skill tree.
- World: events happen across the map whether players are nearby or not, with local weather and a day-night cycle.
Each of these is described as part of the initial Early Access release. Early Access games change a lot, so expect server settings and performance needs to shift during that period.
Keeping Your Tribe Together Until ARK 2
With 2028 as the studio's target, most ARK communities will spend the next years on ARK: Survival Ascended. Studio Wildcard's plan puts a run of expansions there first, ending with Legacy of Santiago, which leads into ARK 2's story.
- Keep your community on an ASA or ARK: Survival Evolved server so players stay in touch.
- Note the mods your players rely on; ARK 2 promises stackable mods, but nothing carries over automatically.
- Write down your server rules and rates, so you can rebuild them on ARK 2 once settings are published.
- Follow the ARK 2 Steam page for news and the first server details.
Where Gaming Deluxe Stands on ARK 2
We host ARK: Survival Ascended and ARK: Survival Evolved, and we expect strong interest in ARK 2 servers. But there is no game to run yet, so this page has no plans, no prices and no order button.
Once ARK 2 is released and hosts can run its unofficial servers, we will review what the server needs and update this page. Meanwhile, tell us you are interested. It is free and helps us plan.
What to Compare Once ARK 2 Servers Exist
When ARK 2 unofficial servers can be rented, ask any host about these points.
- Mod handlingHow mods are installed, stacked and updated, and whether players on other platforms can join a modded server.
- Big-base performanceServer memory and CPU for large structures and many tamed creatures, not just an empty map.
- Full settings accessRates, PvE or PvP rules and admin commands, once Studio Wildcard publishes them.
- Early Access updatesHow fast the host patches the server after each update, and how saves are backed up.
ARK 2 Glossary
- Santiago
- The ARK hero played by Vin Diesel, the sequel's main character.
- Meeka
- Santiago's daughter, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho.
- Aratai
- A hostile native people who ride tamed creatures and hunt survivors.
- Unofficial server
- A community-run ARK server with its own rules, usually rented from a host.
- Stackable mods
- Several user-created mods running together on one game or server.
- Building template
- A saved base layout that survivors can share and build out as a team.
- Knowledge points
- Points earned from key objectives and challenges, spent in the skill tree.
- Legacy of Santiago
- A planned ARK: Survival Ascended expansion that acts as a prequel to ARK 2.
ARK 2 Help and Official Links
Official news, and how to reach us.
Written with AI assistance and checked by Matthew Griffin against the ARK 2 Steam page and Studio Wildcard's December 2025 interview on the Epic Games Store news site. Gaming Deluxe does not sell ARK 2 servers at the time of writing.
