At the Game Developers Conference 2025, Studio Wildcard revealed a two-minute anime-style trailer for ARK Lost Colony, the first all-original ARK: Survival Ascended expansion pack.
The expansion will feature numerous cinema-grade anime story sequences created by legendary Japanese animation studio MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man). In this new frozen world, players follow in the footsteps of legendary ARK survivor Mei Yin on a soul-searching quest deep into the chilling heart of darkness to find answers to long-buried secrets of ARK’s past.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
Starring the voice talents of Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once), reprising her ARK: The Animated Series role as Mei Yin, Madeleine Madden (Wheel of Time) as Helena Walker, Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) as Meeka, along with yet-to-be-revealed, fan-favorite characters voiced and depicted for the first time in-game.
What is the full plot of ARK Lost Colony?
ARK Lost Colony directly connects the storylines of ARK’s Extinction and Genesis expansions and leads into the events of ARK 2. Confront the demons of Arat Prime — birthplace of the ARKs — in ASA’s first massive canonical expansion pack, ARK Lost Colony!
Starring Michelle Yeoh as Mei Yin in cinematic anime sequences by legendary Japanese studio MAPPA, the epic new story of ARK Lost Colony bridges the gap from ARK Extinction to ARK Genesis and into the world of ARK 2. As you follow in Mei Yin’s footsteps through an intense journey into the heart of darkness, you’ll unlock powerful “Lost” character ability trees, befriend exotic tames, craft “Cursed” tiers of gear, and master advanced new building systems!
But beware, the frozen wastes of Arat Prime are not devoid of intelligent life; on the contrary, the city has become a war-torn battleground between twisted Element-powered ‘factions’ seeking to undo what was accomplished at the end of ARK Extinction.
Together with generations of heroes, you’ll unite the past and the future of ARK!
More about Studio Wildcard
Since revealing its flagship game, ARK: Survival Evolved, in 2015, Studio Wildcard has tirelessly strived to bring its dinosaur-filled vision to the masses. With millions of players worldwide, the team has delivered an amazing amount of new content and leveraged cutting-edge technology to keep fans engaged.
With a transmedia universe, the ARK story can be discovered on all gaming platforms, within spin-off titles, and now as a new epic narrative featuring a star-studded cast in ARK: The Animated Series on Paramount+.
Will Survivors be able to face down the demons lurking in Arat Prime and connect ARK’s past and future? Players can find out when ARK Lost Colony becomes available for pre-order in June 2025. All purchases will immediately unlock exclusive ARK Lost Colony preview gameplay content.
With a full release in November 2025, ARK Lost Colony will be priced at $29.99 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC platforms and can be wishlisted on Steam now.
