A surprise trailer for Ark: Survival Evolved teased its new water-based expansion Aquatica this week and fans are livid. That’s because the video appears to make generous use of AI-generated footage to show a bland and incoherent mashup of underwater scenes that have nothing to do with the game.
“Uncharted waters await in Ark: Aquatica!” wrote Snail Games USA in the trailer’s description on YouTube. “Premiering at GDC, this latest expansion takes survival to the deep blue with new creatures, mechanics, and dangers lurking below.” The 70-second-long video begins with brief use of actual Ark gameplay before switching to smoothed-over and cheap-looking CGI footage stitching together random context-less scenes including an octopus springing from the water with only six arms.
The video has over 7,000 dislikes and more than 1,800 comments. “This is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourselves,” reads the most upvoted response, from Ark content creator Syntac. “What even is the point of an AI trailer????” reads another. “You’re showing NOTHING. This is worse than having PowerPoint presentation about the DLC.”
The backlash was so swift and negative that the makers of the original game, Studio Wildcard, went on social media to distance themselves from the debacle. “Ark: Aquatica is being developed by @SnailGamesUSA Colorado, please follow them for more updates,” the team wrote on X yesterday. “Studio Wildcard remains entirely dedicated to the production of Ark: Survival Ascended & Ark 2, and we’re excited to bring Ark: Lost Colony to you later this year!”
For anyone who’s been out of Ark’s survival crafting, dino-hunting orbit for a few years now, the sequel was revealed back at the 2020 Game Awards with a look at Vin Diesel and has barely been heard from since. Ark: Survival Ascended, meanwhile, is a current-gen remake of the original game in Unreal Engine 5. It’s still in Early Access on PC and continues to be plagued by complaints about bugs and optimization issues.
This all leaves the series as a whole in a very awkward spot at the moment, and fans continue to blame the involvement of Chinese parent company Snail Games for every new rake the franchise steps on. “How can every decision y’all make be so horrible...” wrote Ark YouTuber Crowmeda. “So many amazing artists and devs work on this IP to make the game look great, and y’all disregard each and every one of them.”
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