Ark update adds new story and Winter Wonderland event to survival game

There’s an Ark update arriving for the dinosaur survival game, and it adds expanded story content with cinematics for each Ark map along with additional voice overs for existing content, with Dr Who actor David Tennant among the cast lending their voices to the game’s various dossiers and encounters. The Ark Winter Wonderland event is also here, with plenty of opportunities to grab presents and chibis in between taming Ark dinosaurs.

The Ark expanded story content update is a free patch for all platforms that introduces some brand-new cutscenes and story content, and sees Tennant reprising his role as chemist Sir Edmund Rockwell, while The Wheel of Time star Madeleine Madden returns as paleontologist Helena Walker. Both have recorded full voice lines for all their respective in-game dossiers and explorer notes, as well as lines for the confrontation with Rockwell on Ark Aberration.

Also active are some holiday festivities, as the Ark Winter Wonderland event runs December 14 – January 5. This features boosted rates, meaning you’ll get huge bonuses for XP, harvesting, taming, and breeding, along with a 50% boost to Hexagons. You’ll be able to spot Raptor Claus soaring across the skies as he drops off all manner of presents for survivors. There’s high-end loot to be grabbed, along with Mistletoe and Coal that can be traded in for skins, cosmetics, gear, and twelve new chibi-pets.

Meanwhile, spin-off multiplayer game Ark: Survival of the Fittest gets a crossplay prototype starting on December 23. The game, which has fallen somewhat flat with players struggling to find active servers, has been “re-evolved from the ground up with redesigned mechanics,” according to the developers.

We’ve got all the Ark console commands if you’re running a private server and want to quickly get the most out of your world, as well as the best Ark mods to further enhance your play time. If you’re a dino nut, then there’s more of the best dinosaur games on PC to satisfy your penchant for the prehistoric.