ARK: Survival Ascended's UE5.8 upgrade arrives October 28

ARK: Survival Ascended's Unreal Engine 5.8 upgrade launches October 28, and Studio Wildcard is inviting players to test it on the Steam Public Test Realm. The PTR is on The Island; the PTR guide explains how to join and report issues. A PTR update next week will focus on the optimizations that delivered the biggest GPU performance gains in internal testing. Randomly selected testers can receive ARK: Dragontopia and Fantastic Tames Season 1 keys.

The Enigmasaur will wrap up ARK Fantastic Tames Season 1 on November 6. Its dossier lists Proteus mutabilis, time unknown, insectivore and highly adaptable. It becomes other species so convincingly that it can join and hunt with a new pack before returning to its true form.

To tame one, show it you've tamed the creature it is mimicking, repeating as it cycles forms until you demonstrate goodwill. Learned forms retain useful traits in any shape—after dropping Pulmonoscorpius to become a Rex, its attacks can still stun prey as if it had a stinger. Returning to its own body grants all learned abilities at once.

Extra Life is heading into its 12th year after raising over $1.2 million. This year's campaign supports Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and UF Health Shands Children's Hospital; donations to Team Wildcard go directly to UF Health Shands. Every $40,000 raised unlocks a TLC for a classic creature, up to four, with votes deciding which.

Donate to Team Wildcard or any team member on its roster and include a hashtag plus the creature's full first name, such as #Giganotosaurus. Every $1 equals one vote, so $50 with #Giganotosaurus is 50 votes. Donations without a hashtag count toward the total but not any creature's tally. Eligible: Araneo, Argentavis, Dire Bear, Direwolf, Gigantopithecus, Giganotosaurus (Nov 6), Mammoth, Megalosaurus (upcoming), Parasaur, Procoptodon, Quetzalcoatlus (upcoming), Raptor, Therizinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Sabertooth, Sarcosuchus, Spinosaurus, Stegosaurus and Triceratops. Winners: November 13, 20, 27 and December 4.

From November 13–23, the official network will roll out community-favorite dino colors with extra saturation and variety. In place of traditional boosted donation rates, the event offers Cake Slices for Taming, Breeding, Imprint, EXP and Harvesting.

A list of inactive official servers will be sunset on November 29, renamed with a "SUNSET" prefix and removed from in-game Favorites, so players must search manually to reconnect. The list spans NA, EU, Asia and OC across PvE, PvP, console, Small Tribes and modded. Studio Wildcard is working with Nitrado to offer saves after the sunset and still intends to provide as much launch capacity as possible.

Conquest, introduced to ARK: Survival Ascended by Snail Games, focuses on large-scale PvP with increased rates to help tribes establish and rebuild after losses. Official servers are open on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. A revamp is underway, with questionnaires in the Conquest Discord shaping future seasons; the new season begins in early November.

Fear Ascended details are still to come, but its Halloween build contest is open. Submit a haunted home, cursed castle, creepy cabin, graveyard, ritual site, abandoned outpost or monster lair in #haunted-homestead with 3–5 screenshots, an optional short video, category (Official or Unofficial/Single Player) and platform. Builds must feature Fear Ascended content, be made during the competition, and follow Official restrictions in that category; Unofficial/Single Player entries can use any mods. One entry per person/category. Entries close November 3; winners are revealed November 6. Per category, first place wins ARK: Dragontopia and Fantastic Tames Season 1 keys plus a $100 Steam/Xbox/PlayStation gift card; second and third win both keys, two runners-up win Dragontopia, and a special mention wins Fantastic Tames Season 1. Winning builds will be featured; entries may be shared with credit.

Official weekend bonuses run until Monday, October 19. PvP/PvE get 2x Harvesting, Taming, Experience and Breeding; Small Tribes get 4.5x Harvesting, Taming and Experience plus 4x Breeding; ARKpocalypse gets 5x Harvesting, Taming, Experience and Breeding. ARKpocalypse wiped October 17; next wipe is November 13, 2026. These monthly-wipe servers have higher rates; type "Arkpocalypse" in the server browser to join.