It's surprising to see the same game franchise get one trailer so right and another trailer so wrong within a day of each other. Just yesterday we were reporting from GDC 2025 on fans' excitement about Studio Wildcard's anime teaser for Ark: Lost Colony, the upcoming DLC for the Unreal Engine 5 remake Ark: Survival Ascended.
But Ark announcements at the Game Developers Conference have ended on a low note with an unexpected. Snail Games USA has dropped a trailer for Ark: Aquatica, an expansion not of Ark: Survival Ascended but of the original Ark: Survival Evolved. And it appears to be almost entirely AI-generated.
Wildcard's official Ark: Survival Ascended X account appeared to be so keen to distance itself from the Ark: Aquatica DLC that it announced that it had nothing to do with the project before it had even been announced. Ark: Aquatica is being developed by Snail Games. Studio Wildcard remains entirely dedicated to the production of ARK: Survival Ascended & Ark 2, it posted.
"WTF is ARK: Aquatica?" confused fans wanted to know. We soon found out when Snail Games dropped the messy 'trailer; above. And it didn't take long for the criticism to begin.
ARK: Aquatica is being developed by @SnailGamesUSA Colorado, please follow them for more updates.Studio Wildcard remains entirely dedicated to the production of ARK: Survival Ascended & ARK 2, and we're excited to bring ARK: Lost Colony to you later this year!March 18, 2025
The debacle recalls Catly, the alleged AI slop that somehow managed to sneak its way into the Game Awards 2024. Many are wondering what's even the point of an AI-generated trailer that doesn't say anything about the game? Even the logo looks like its AI.
The only thing the trailer communicates is that the DLC exists, and that it's set underwater. To be fair, I guess it's got people talking perhaps more than a proper trailer would, but not in a good way. The video hardly exciting fans for the release, and it seems even Snail Games may be regretting its approach – it appears to have removed the trailer from the video list on its YouTube profile.
At the time of writing, the video remains accessible via the direct link, and there are already more than a thousand comments lambasting the trailer. "There's a bit of Ark in your AI," one person jested – although some aren't seeing any Ark at all. "With THIS as the trailer, I'm almost excited to see how bad the actual product could possibly be," someone else added.
"Well, that explains Wildcard's tweet about not being involved. Wouldn't want to touch this with a 10-foot pole either," another person wrote. Someone else suggested the game should be titled 'Ark: No-Effort-Involved'.
Confused as to what's actually being released? I don't blame you. To recap, Ark: Lost Colony is an interesting-looking DLC for Ark: Survival Ascended. It will be available for pre-order in June 2025 and can be wishlisted on Steam now. Ark: Aquatica is a terrible-looking DLC for Ark: Survival Evolved and will be released in June.
For more news from GDC 2025, see the announcement of Roblox Cube 3D AI tools, highlights of the Unity Gaming Report and the addition of the new Filled Path tool in Adobe Substance 3D Painter.
