Ark Spins Off Free-To-Play "Survival Of The Fittest" Battle Royale Standalone Game

Hit survival game Ark: Survival Evolved is taking the H1Z1 approach and splitting into two, introducing a free-for-all, battle royale-type standalone game alongside its survival mode. Unlike H1Z1: King of the Kill, however, Ark: Survival of the Fittest will be free-to-play. And it's available, well, now.

Originally a total conversion mod for Ark, Survival of the Fittest sticks 72 players on the island and has them hack, shoot, and dino-trample each other until one (or one tribe) reigns supreme. Studio Wildcard is pushing hard for the esports audience, as you can tell from the commentary in the trailer.

Dedicated eSport rankings, matchmaking, reward, and upcoming Tournaments make ARK: SotF readily accessible to all players and after each month we’ll be awarding over $50,000 to the Top-10 Ranked Players in each of the four game modes, referred to as the "Survivor League"!

While the announcement says it is "launching SotF into Early Access absolutely free with no monetization," it's not totally clear if that's a permanent goal or if Wildcard plans to charge for the game at a later date. In any case, it's free-to-play for now, and we'll update things if that changes.