The player wants to play ARK again after 6 years, but is afraid of the huge download on Steam

One player wanted to play ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam again after a long hiatus, but the survival game's 300+GB download scared him away.

What is the download size? The popular survival game ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE) has been around for a few years and even after a remake was released in Unreal Engine 5, it still has good numbers of players. The game's download is similarly large, with the title receiving numerous downloadable content (DLC) over the years.

Reddit user BacklogGamingJunkie recently shared a screenshot showing ARK: Survival Evolved downloading at a whopping 329.82GB.

He wanted to play the game again after a long hiatus, but was shocked when he saw the size of the download: “I didn't remember it being that big.”

You can see the user's post including the screenshot here:

New maps and dinosaurs take up your storage space

Why is the player downloaded so heavily? Although the system requirements on Steam state 60GB of available storage space, this value has been outdated for some time.

As shown in the player screenshot, the player had last played ARK: Survival Evolved in February 2017. However, since then, ASE has received some paid DLC and new dinosaurs. Players also enjoyed free maps such as Fjördur, which also had a noticeable impact on the storage space required.

One new creature that has been added over the years is Rhyniognatha. Here you can see the trailer for the huge beetle:

While the base game with “only” some free content is around 150GB, with DLC it quickly grows to over 300GB. So it is very likely that the player will have DLC and free content downloaded directly as well.

The expansion pass, which includes the Scorched Earth, Drift, and Extinction maps, is particularly relevant here. He could have bought it for the scorched earth version. He no longer notices the versions of Aberration and Extinction, but he would still have the maps if he did.

What content has been added since you last played? The Reddit user last played in February 2017. Since then, the official paid DLCs Aberration, Extinction, Genesis 1, and Genesis 2 have been added to the game.

Free DLC maps Ragnarok, Valguero, Crystal Isles, Lost Island, and Fjördur have also been added.

Players who have played ASE regularly for years are well accustomed to the scale of the game. But for the Reddit user, who downloaded the game again after almost 7 years, it was a big surprise.

If you're thinking about purchasing the UE5 ARK: Survival Ascended remake, MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller gives you his review of the game:

ARK: Survival Ascended has been on Steam for a month now – how to play the game and is it recommended?