At Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) last June, developer Studio Wildcard announced that Ark Survival Evolved will be leaving Steam's Early Access soon. This basically means that the game will be launched as an official title come August. During that time, though, the studio revealed that the price of the game will remain the same prior to the official release.
However, as reported by ComicBook, the debut price of Ark Survival Evolved on Steam now sits at $60. This was doubled from the previous $30, thus making the game's price similar to the console. Obviously, this came as a shock to the community, as it opposes the announcement the studio made at the aforementioned event.
Apparently, there is a reason why Studio Wildcard opted to make the price change. They revealed that the decision to do so came primarily from the retailers. They advised that if they are to release the game on both platforms (physical and digital), there must a price consistency. This was suggested as a way to keep retails parity at bay. The video game company further explained that, in one way or another, it was never their intention to do so.
Whether or not this is true, the main reason for the price change in Ark Survival Evolved is to basically keep the business side of things thriving. Obviously, retailers who will sell the physical copy of the game will be notch higher compared to the digital copy. As a result, there is likely a huge difference in sales between the two, as noted by PCGamer.
According to GamesIndustryBiz, the move from Studio Wildcard only earned criticisms and loathing from the Ark Survival Evolved community. Many do not agree with the decision, considering how abrupt and unpromising it was. After all, the developers already made clear of it at E3, only to change it later on.
