ARK: Survival Evolved has recently, finally left early access and headed into full release, as well as released on console. When it was in early access, the game's performance was always under the scrutiny of fans.
It was hoped that major improvements to these performance issues would be fixed with the full release, but according to Digital Foundry, this has yet to happen. Focusing primarily on the console versions of the game, they found that it runs at 640p/720p on PlayStation 4. On the PlayStation 4 Pro, the options are 720p and native 1080p, but both run at 30 frames per second. The Xbox One version runs at 720p with no further options, nor a v-sync selection.
While the frame rates are uncapped on PlayStation, this isn't always the best idea for a console game where graphical settings are far less customizable than PC versions. The Xbox One X, currently unreleased, is planned to run at 1080p/60fps according to a quote given to WCCFTech at E3 2017.
So this must mean the PC is superior, right? Not quite, at least in this case. Russian website GameGPU tested Ark: Survival Evolved on PC and found the overall performance mostly the same as it was before full release. When ran at 4K resolution and Epic graphic settings, the GTX 1080i can only run the game at around 25fps. Of course, that's a resolution that neither console can even get close to, but since the option is there, it was tested on a top of the line GPU and didn't really deliver.
Full release of ARK: Survival Evolved doesn't mean Studio Wildcard will disappear in the shadow of their released game, however. They already have a new expansion in the works. Some may see that as them leaving loose ends, but the fact that they're keeping their eyes glued to the game post-release is promising, showing their dedication to the project.
