Ark: Survival Evolved brings dinosaur survival to your pockets (Updated: coming June 14)

Update (06/06): Ark: Survival Evolved will roar its way onto Android devices via the Google Play Store on June 14, Wildcard and War Drum Studios have announced. The dino-survival title has been in beta for several months but will now be released into the wild on both Android and iOS devices.

Since the game’s initial announcement, the team working on the mobile version of Ark have released a number of gameplay videos and addressed the prickly topic of monetization.

The game will be free-to-play with ads and in-app purchases. In a recent blog post, the team explained that Ancient Amber will act as a premium currency for building structures, applying buffs, and obtaining items.

Alternatively, players can sign up for a “Primal Pass” to remove all ads, early access to special events, exclusive server access, and a double XP buff for life. The pass will set you back $3.99 a month, or you buy an annual pass for $34.99(!).

Original story (05/15): Ark: Survival Evolved developer Wildcard announced that its popular dinosaur survival game will make its way to Android and iOS sometime this spring.

War Drum Studios will handle porting duties, with the studio previously responsible for Rockstar’s Bully: Anniversary, Max Payne, and Grand Theft Auto mobile ports. War Drum Studios also ported The Conduit HD to mobile, so the developer has impressive porting experience under its belt.

The mobile version of Ark: Survival Evolved promises to have as much feature parity with its PC and console counterparts as possible. That means a single-player mode, over 80 creatures that you can tame, and the leveling, crafting, and building systems familiar to current players.

Additionally, Ark: Survival Evolved’s tribe system lets you play with others to build a base, expand its size, and attack other bases. You can play with up to 49 other simultaneous players, though we do not know whether PvE will be included alongside PvP.

Also unknown is how well War Drum Studios handles the game’s visuals. Ark: Survival Evolved does not have the most stable of framerates, and the mobile version will surely take a visual hit. The game looked pretty good in the trailer, though we will wait until release to give a better verdict.

Finally, here’s hoping the game does not shove its paid aspects in your face. Ark: Survival Evolved for mobile is a free-to-play title, so the fear is that a game of this class turns into a pay-to-win affair.

We will not have to wait long to get some answers, however. You can register for Ark: Survival Evolved’s iOS closed beta today, with a beta for Android coming soon. The full release scheduled for this spring.

You can sign up for a chance to join the iOS beta at the link below.