Ark Winter Wonderland 2022 (AKA Ark Winter Wonderland 7) is running now through January 5, 2023 in Ark: Survival Evolved. During the annual event, Raptor Claus flies through the sky, dropping off mistletoe and coal. Both items can be traded in to GachaClaus to receive special holiday-themed goodies, including skins, weapons, and chibi-pets.
Also during the event, survivors can enjoy boosted rates of harvesting, taming, breeding, and hexagon bonuses.
The Winter Wonderland event represents the first time Switch players have enjoyed a seasonal event alongside everyone else, following Ark’s reboot on Switch as the Ultimate Survivor Edition. Switch players recently received access to the Aberration Expansion Pack on December 26.
This season also marks the return of Survival of the Fittest, Ark’s online competitive battle spinoff (read: Battle Royale).
Survival of the Fittest was originally introduced back in 2016, but it’s getting a reboot on December 23 for the PC (Steam) version. It’s the first time this prototype has received a significant upgrade since 2017.
The new version “introduces a significant number of technical/quality of life/balance changes to the game mode that differs from ARK: Survival Evolved and the original version of Survival of the Fittest. These changes aim to make the experience more streamlined and accessible, eliminating the complex aspects of crafting & the steep learning curve, and empowering players to quickly form their Dino Armies and get to the creature-action faster.”
Survival of the Fittest features nearly 100 dinosaurs, solo and tribe-based modes, and a commander mode to give a birds-eye-view of the battlefield.
Survival of the Fittest is only available on PC. Ark: Survival Evolved is available on PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox and mobile devices. It’s rated T for Teen.
