Ark: Survival Evolve Developers Interested In Porting Game For Switch, Many Hurdles To Overcome

Survival game Ark: Survival Evolve has been quite well received, especially when it launched in Japan just recently, taking second place in the charts, just under Super Mario Odyssey. So the natural question to ask is whether the game is going to come to the Nintendo Switch.

When asked the question by GamesIndustry, developers Studio Wildcard said that they were very interested in the Nintendo Switch and they are playing around with a few ideas to see which one would stick. Although they do not have any plans at the moment, they acknowledge that the Switch is a good platform for Ark: Survival Evolve as it allows the players to be occupied for a few minutes at the time only, making it very mobile friendly.

However, they also acknowledged that things are not going to be easy and that there are things to be resolved before the game can go on the Switch, such as memory issues.

Studio Wildcard also remains interested in the Nintendo Switch. Considering Nintendo’s incredible sales and the fact that it’s attracted more of a core following than the Wii, it’s easy to ask: Is Ark ultimately coming to Nintendo’s hybrid console?

“Switch is a little challenging because it is a totally different platform, so we’re throwing some ideas around, just seeing if it makes sense right now,” Rapczak responds. “We don’t have any concrete plans yet, but we’re very close to Nintendo up here in Seattle and we all love the Switch for portability gaming and stuff like that. Ark is one of those games where if you want to do everything you can in the game, it’s hard to pull away from it to go do real life. So I think Switch is a great platform for a game like Ark, because if the game is designed right, you can kind of pull out and do some stuff. It’s kind of like some players play it almost like you might play a mobile game – you know, you might want to go do something in the game for a few minutes, like tend to your dinos or your crops or something if you play Ark that way. The mobility of the Switch platform might be appealing to those players, because they can just kinda carry it with them.

“So we do have a lot of hurdles there, especially with memory. But I will say, for sure, we’re not ignoring the Switch. I think it’s definitely proven to be a platform that is a little bit better this time around for third-party developers. People are buying it. People are loving the games. I think it’s just something that now is on our radar [so] let’s take a look at it and let’s see what we can do there.”

You can read the rest of the article, which covers other aspect of the game’s development journey at GamesIndustry here.