Ark Survival Evolved: Sony Paid $3.5M to Include It in PS Plus; MS Paid $2.5M for Game Pass Inclusion

Ark ps plus

Ever wondered how much it costs to get established games as part of Sony’s PlayStation Plus free monthly offers or Xbox’s Game Pass membership? Well, we know now — at least for Studio Wildcard’s Ark: Survival Evolved.

In an SEC filing by Snail Games, which is the parent company of Studio Wildcard, it’s mentioned that Sony paid $3.5 million to have the game be part of March 2022’s PlayStation Plus free games lineup. As for Microsoft, it paid Snail Games $2.5 million to have it available on Xbox Game Pass. It’s worth noting that Microsoft’s deal was set to end in 2021 before it was extended to include this year as well, though it doesn’t stop there.

Microsoft has also inked a deal for Ark 2 to be on Game Pass as well, and the tech giant paid $2.3 million for it, with the filing stating, “The Company recognized $2.5 million in revenue related to ARK 1 perpetual license for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and deferred $2.3 million related to ARK 2 that is included in the long-term portion of deferred revenue.”

What do you think? Did Sony and Microsoft overpaid or was it just right considering the game’s reach and longevity? Ark: Survival Evolved was released in 2017, and has since been heavily supported post-launch, though that has winded down recently given the dev team is prepping for Ark 2’s release.

Ark 2, which stars Hollywood actor Vin Diesel, will be released sometime in 2023. Go check out the latest trailer released for it here.

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Amy Oliver
1 year ago

hyhyh

Ryan
1 year ago

I mean its not really hard to figure out why….On PS+ your getting an indefinite license to play the game. Meanwhile with WelfarePass, you only have access to the game while its on the service. It could be taken down at any point and then your not playing it anymore.

Spencer Moore
Reply to  Ryan
1 year ago

Tell that to all the red dead redemption players that got locked out of the game when it got pulled from ps plus last month. Both platforms have the same effect once the game is pulled

TheStrangr
Reply to  Ryan
1 year ago

No, the reasoning is that on PS+ you’re getting it for “free” (keep ignoring the fact that you can only access it when you’re subbed), whereas on GP it’s still generating revenue. Also, MS already had an existing contract that they simply extended. Sony signed a new contract. The fanboys afflict all corners of the internet now, don’t they?

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