‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Latest News & Updates: Why Studio Wildcard Canceled ‘ARK: Survival Of The Fittest As Free Standalone Game

Just a week ago, Studio Wildcard released the latest update of "ARK: Survival Evolved" free standalone game, "ARK: Survival of the Fittest" ("SotF"), for the PC platforms after the game developer announced that the game has been delayed on PS4. However, "SotF" will now merge to its original game in all Xbox One, PS4 and PC platforms.

Based on the post on Steam Community earlier this week, Studio Wildcard explained that the decision to bring back "SotF" as an internal part of "ARK: Survival Evolved" package was due to the release of the game's Development Kit. In order to avoid licensing problems, the reintegration of "SotF" into the original "ARK" game was deemed as a good idea by the game developer, IGN noted.

"As we look to the future of SotF, we came to a decision: Survival of the Fittest will be brought back internally as part of the ARK: Survival Evolved package," Studio Wildcard said in a blog post. "For technical functionality it will still exist as its own application, and everyone who has thus-far played the game will continue to be able to play it without having to own ARK: Survival Evolved, but going forward it will be considered part of the ARK: Survival Evolved product group."

The announcement on the reintegration of "SotF" in "ARK: Survival Evolved," however, was quite a bad news for console players. The reason? Well, Studio Wildcard's decision would also mean that the Xbox One and PS4 console development of the spinoff game will be suspended.

Another reason cited by Studio Wildcard for the cancellation of "SotF" as "ARK: Survival Evolved" standalone game was because of its rejection of the game's Free-to-play model, Daily Express learned. But with "SotF" reintegration, the game developer remained hopeful to release the Development Kit without any content licensing restrictions and let modders take all "ARK: Survival Evolved" content freely.

Meanwhile, the "ARK: Survival Evolved" developers also announced that there would be a huge "Survival of the Fittest" mod competition soon, which reportedly aims to boost the "SotF" community. In addition, Studio Wildcard also revealed that the July Survivor League Championship will commence on Aug. 6 at 8 am PT with a Twitch broadcast, PC Gamer reported.

So, what are your thoughts on "SotF" reintegration in "ARK: Survival Evolved?" Sound off below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.