Ark: Survival Ascended Expansion Lost Colony Stars Michelle Yeoh, Leads Into Ark 2

Dinosaur survival game Ark 2, which some had suspected might have run into trouble or even been abandoned, is back on after developer Studio Wildcard revealed a new expansion for Ark: Survival Ascended that leads into the sequel.

Ark: Lost Colony is the first original expansion pack for Ark 1 remake Ark: Survival Ascended, and its reveal trailer, below, was produced by anime studio Mappa (Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man) and stars voiceover by the Michelle Yeoh, who reprises her role as Mei Yin from Ark: The Animated Series.

Studio Wildcard said the expansion will feature numerous cinema-grade anime story sequences created by Mappa. Here’s the official blurb:

In this new frozen world, players follow in the footsteps of legendary Ark survivor Mei Yin, on a soul-searching quest deep into the chilling heart of darkness to find answers to long-buried secrets of Ark’s past.

Ark: Lost Colony will present survivors with thrilling new challenges as they become the hunted in a vast occupied city, and gain access to powerful new kinds of character abilities, unique gear, building systems, and phenomenally exotic tames.

Will Survivors be able to face down the demons lurking in Arat Prime, and connect Ark’s past and future?

In its note to press, Studio Wildcard said Ark: Lost Colony “directly connects” the storylines of Ark’s Extinction and Genesis expansions and leads into the events of Ark 2.

Ark 2 is the Unreal Engine 5-powered sequel to the hugely successful Ark Survival Evolved. It was first announced with a surprise Vin Diesel cameo at The Game Awards 2020, at the time with a 2022 release date, but it was later delayed into 2023. Then, earlier in 2023, Ark 2 was delayed again, this time to late 2024 as an Xbox Series X and S console exclusive, day-one on Game Pass, and on PC via Steam and Windows.

As recently as December 2023, Studio Wildcard was still insisting Ark 2 was on track for a late 2024 release window. Obviously that didn’t happen, sparking concern from fans. So this announcement, coming three months into 2025, will help reassure fans that Ark 2 is still in the works, although Studio Wildcard failed to provide an updated release window.

We do have firmer details for Ark: Lost Colony, however. Pre-orders kick off in June 2025, and all purchases immediately unlock exclusive Ark: Lost Colony preview gameplay content. A full release is set for November 2025, with Ark: Lost Colony priced at $29.99 for Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].