35,000-Hour Ark Player Slams Game in Negative Steam Review
▼ Summary
– Ark: Survival Evolved left early access in 2017, and a player with 35,202 hours (half the game’s lifespan) left a negative Steam review and demanded a refund.
– The player cited issues with Ark Aquatica, a 10-year anniversary DLC, which broke mods, server settings, and configuration files across the game.
– The DLC has an “Overwhelmingly Negative” rating on Steam, with players reporting bugs, poor performance, and accusations of forcing them to switch to Ark: Survival Ascended.
– Publisher Snail Games acknowledged the issues and stated they are working on a fix for the game engine and mod crashes.
– Despite the negative review, the player logged an additional 32 hours in the past week, raising questions about whether recent patches improved the situation.
A dedicated Ark: Survival Evolved player with over 35,000 hours logged has shocked the gaming community by leaving a scathing negative review on Steam. The player, who spent nearly four years of actual playtime in the dinosaur survival game, didn’t hold back in criticizing recent changes that rendered their experience unplayable.
The controversy stems from the release of Ark Aquatica, a 10-year anniversary DLC that has been met with overwhelming backlash. Currently sitting at a 12% approval rating on Steam, players report widespread issues, including broken mods, server mismatches, and corrupted configuration files. The frustrated reviewer, who previously managed an Ark Server Manager (ASM) setup, claims the update has ruined the game entirely.
“Server doesn’t match, mods don’t work, and all of this is to force us into Ark: Survival Ascended,” the player wrote, referencing the remastered version of the game. “I own that too, and it’s terrible. Now you’ve ruined ASE as well. You had something great, hope you choke on your greed! How do I get a refund?!”
To put their playtime into perspective, 35,202 hours equates to four full years of nonstop gameplay. Even accounting for server uptime, this level of dedication makes their dissatisfaction all the more striking. The situation has drawn attention from the developers, with publisher Snail Games acknowledging the problems in a recent Steam post. They stated that fixing the game engine’s issues is their “top priority,” though solutions remain complex.
This isn’t the first instance of a long-term player turning critical, similar cases have surfaced in other games, but the sheer scale of this player’s investment makes it unprecedented. Interestingly, despite their fury, the reviewer has logged an additional 32 hours in the past week, raising questions about whether recent patches have alleviated some frustrations.
Whether the developers can salvage the situation remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: losing a player of this magnitude speaks volumes about the current state of Ark: Survival Evolved.
(Source: PCGAMER)
