The recent announcement of Ark: Aquatica, a new underwater-themed DLC, caused massive negative reactions from the Ark: Survival Evolved player base. During GDC 2025, the developers released a trailer using AI to generate images and voiceovers that earned criticism from fans as fake and poorly made. Viewers noticed strange details, such as a six-tentacled octopus and humans that appeared deformed, which triggered widespread complaints about lazy production methods and excessive AI usage. The Ark: Survival YouTube community leader Syntac strongly condemned the GDC 2025 trailer when he described it as "disgusting" while insisting the developers should feel ashamed of their work. The immense negativity toward the trailer caused Snail Games to remove it from YouTube just one day after its upload. The original developers of Ark specifically stated they had no part in making the Aquatica DLC nor its trailer since their main priority remains on both Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark 2. The AI trailer originated from the marketing department of Snail Games under the leadership of designer Matt Kohl despite the lack of participation from the developer team. According to him, the development of the game itself did not incorporate any AI; it was just the trailer that went all AI. Ark fans within the community doubt the IP management skills of Snail Games because of these uncertainties. The new game Aquatica plans to enter market availability in June 2025.

FAQs

Who created the DLC for Aquatica?

The developing team behind Aquatica belongs to Snail Games USA Colorado rather than Studio Wildcard.

Why was the trailer criticized?

Fans criticized the abundant use of artificial intelligence to create visuals along with AI-generated narration.

Did Studio Wildcard have any involvement?

The company developed Aquatica while keeping away from this project due to its focus on separate ventures.

When is Aquatica set to release?

The DLC is expected to arrive on the market in June 2025.