A trailer forAquatica, an upcoming DLC forArk: Survival Evolved(yes,Evolved), has been delisted from YouTube after an overwhelmingly negative response. Revealed as part of GDC 2025, the trailer showcases an underwater-themedArkexpansion, featuring giant, subaquatic dinosaurs and glowing coral reefs. Curiously, the DLC is being developed forArk: Survival Evolved- notits enhanced remakeSurvival Ascended. It’s currently scheduled for a June 2025 release.
However,fans have accused theAquaticatrailer of being AI-generated, featuring no real game footage, prompting popularArkYouTuberSyntacto comment, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Syntac’s comment was only a small part of a much bigger wave of backlash. Less than 24 hours after its initial upload, the official trailer was delisted from YouTube following widespread fan outrage taking over the comments section.
Fans Accuse ASE’s New Aquatica Trailer Of Being AI-Generated
And The Controversy Keeps Getting Weirder
At midnight on March 18, the officialArk: Survival AscendedX (formerly Twitter) account posted an unusual update. “Ark: Aquaticais being developed by @SnailGamesUSA Colorado, please follow them for more updates.” The initial response was one of confusion: Snail Games doesn’t typically developArkDLC by itself, andStudio Wildcard had yet to announce anything by the name ofArk: Aquatica, leading some fans to believe the tweet was posted on the wrong date by mistake.
Then, a few hours later, the official trailer appeared. Fans were quick to call outwhat they perceived as AI-generated voice and video, with one user,crimlinlin3414, commenting, “when AI music plays and AI feet turn into AI flippers in AI water…literal chills.”
Of course, Snail Games has yet to comment on how it actually produced theArk: Aquaticatrailer, but allthe typical hallmarks of generative AI use are present. Human limbs move in non-human ways, six-legged octopi rise out of too-shallow water, schools of fish appear seemingly out of the ether - and the whole thing is coated in the same strange, uncanny sheen that all AI-generated video content tends to have. It’s also narrated by a text-to-speech voice that appears in many a TikTok, most famously in a series of “scariest stories” meme videos.
Aquatica Is A Strange Choice For Ark
ASE DLC In This Economy?
But no matter where the trailer comes from, why Snail Games is working on DLC, or how good or badAquaticaactually turns out to be, it’s an odd choice forArk. Again,Aquaticais being released forSurvival Evolved, a game that’s been functionally defunct since September 2023, when all its official servers went offline to pave the way forSurvival Ascended. It hasn’t even gotten any DLCsinceFjordurin 2022, now almost three years ago.
The sudden, unprecedented release of this trailer has left us with a lot of whys: why start releasing DLC forASEagain? Why release a trailer with such obvious errors? Why Snail Games and not Studio Wildcard?It’s a recipe for disasterforArk, whose reputation is already in dire straits.
What Is The Next Ark: Survival Ascended DLC After Astraeos?
Ark: Survival Ascended has gotten several DLC and updates since its release, with more still to come. Now that Astraeos is out, what’s next for DLC?
There’s beenone controversy after another: paid creatures, DLC delays, persistent bugs, and, oddly enough, until this trailer, months withno word on the progress ofArk2. TheAquaticatrailer only stokes the fire of outrage - if you prompted an AI to come up with the perfect way to kick long-sufferingArkfans while they’re down, I doubt it could come up with anything better.
At the very least, Snail Games seems to have heard the message. The originalAquaticatrailer remains unlisted on YouTube at the time of writing. Wildcard has washed its hands of the issue, and quietly continues work onArk 2andSurvival AscendedDLC. At least for now, that’s the last we’ve heard aboutArk: Survival Evolved’sAquaticaDLC.
