Studio Wildcard is offering $60,000 to modders who introduce new “mods,” “maps,” or “total conversions” to ARK: Survival Evolved.

The website defines a mod as an extension of gameplay. A map is pretty self-explanatory, and a total conversion is a complete gameplay overhaul of ARK: Survival Evolved. They’re encouraging modders to put some polish on existing mods and turn them in–the mod doesn’t have to be completely new. It just had to change the game meaningfully.

Mods can be turned in anytime from January 14 until March 15, 2016. 5 prizes will be awarded for each category. Find more details about the contest, and the entry form, here. Contest entries will be narrowed down by Studio Wildcard, and then put to a community vote.

ARK: Survival Evolved is currently in Early Access on Steam. The ARK Dev Kit is available through Unreal (just scroll down to the Studio Wildcard section).

Studio Wildcard also added two new creatures to gameplay today: the dimetrodon and the dung beetle.

Both are relatively friendly to survivors. The dung beetle will even clean up after you. And you’d have to be heartless not to get at least a little excited about a dimetrodon.

The update to ARK: Survival Evolved also includes craftable beer kegs.

ARK: Survival Evolved will be released for PlayStation 4 in June 2016. The Early Access version is available on Xbox One as well as PC.


This article was written by

Keezy is a gamer, illustrator, and designer. Her background is in teaching and tutoring kids from ages 9 to 19, and she's led workshops for young women in STEM. She is also holds a certificate in teaching English. Her first memory of gaming is when her dad taught her to play the first Warcraft when she was five. You can find her at Key of Zee and on Twitter @KeezyBees.