ARK: Survival Evolved devs defend decision to release paid DLC ‘Scorched Earth’ for Early Access game

Even though ARK: Survival Evolved has yet to leave the Early Access program on Steam or Xbox One, the developers decided to release premium DLC for the game in the form of 'Scorched Earth.'

The game saw mostly positive reviews until the DLC was announced for $20. Recent reviews have been mostly negative, with a majority of reviews citing the decision to release $20 DLC pack for the Early Access game.

It appears that the biggest gripe people have with the DLC is that Studio Wildcard could have been using the resources spent on making the DLC on actually finishing the Early Access game. On top of that, the content has been called pay-to-win, because players can bring their fire-breathing dragons onto multiplayer servers and absolutely wreck people.

Some users have suggested that the DLC should have been free, seeing as the game is still in Early Access.

Studio Wildcard took to the game's official forum to defend their decision on releasing the DLC at a fee:

"Scorched Earth: Our original vision for ARK always included the creation of Expansion ARKs, along with the infrastructure and technical systems to transfer data dynamically between live ARKs.

"We determined that it is more sound to iterate on these systems during Early Access than after retail launch, given the significant risks involved if we didn't "get it right". While that meant unveiling the first Expansion early, it also means an easier time integrating further post-launch Expansions into the ARK network.

"We understand that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, and we appreciate the enjoyment people seem to be getting out of this initial view of how Expansion ARKs can work. Now that we have the systems in place to support them, we can ensure minimal integration issues with subsequent releases after ARK: Survival Evolved itself has launched. "

Even though Scorched Earth recently released, the developers have more content to add to ARK: Survival Evolved. Luckily, the post also included an outline of what is being worked on:

• ARK v247 launches later this week, and among other things will include the fan-favorite creatures Tapejara and Archaeopteryx!
• Breeding Phase 3 and the Boss Ascension Cycle are being wrapped up for release, and will soon make their debut along with the first Tek Tier items (Power Armor).
• ARK Backstory!! You're going to get your first dose of ARK’s mythology with the Explorer Note system — will you find them all and begin piecing together the mysteries of the ARK?
• The first pass of the "Procedurally Generated ARKs" system should be coming to PC next month, and Xbox soon afterwards. Unlimited ARK varieties?! You bet!
• As Scorched Earth dramatically expands ARK's Blueprint modding capabilities,we will be launching a new Mod Contest with the release of the Dev Kit that incorporates the Scorched Earth content.