Choose ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest
Choose ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest if you want a Strategy game with Steam Leaderboards. On Steam, it carries the stronger Steam consensus at 73.4% positive across 2,180 reviews.
ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest vs ARK: Survival Ascended
ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest and ARK: Survival Ascended both land in Action, Indie, Adventure on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Action, Indie, Adventure on Steam. ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest (2017) is 6 years older than ARK: Survival Ascended (2023). ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest scores higher on Steam reviews (73.4% positive) than ARK: Survival Ascended (60.3% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose ARK: Survival Ascended
Choose ARK: Survival Ascended if you want an Early Access game with MMO, Shared/Split Screen, and Online PvP. On Steam, it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 53,496 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest and ARK: Survival Ascended sit in Action, Indie, and Adventure on Steam and both list Multi-player and Co-op, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest |  ARK: Survival Ascended | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2017 | 2023 |
| Genres | Action, Strategy, Indie, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG | Action, Indie, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer, RPG, Early Access |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Verified |
| Price | Price unknown | 44.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 73.4% positive (2,180 reviews) | 60.3% positive (53,496 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Co-op | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op |
| Developers | Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, Virtual Basement LLC | Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, Instinct Games |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest (2017) is 6 years older than ARK: Survival Ascended (2023).
- ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest scores higher on Steam reviews (73.4% positive) than ARK: Survival Ascended (60.3% positive).
- Both support cooperative play.
- ARK: Survival Ascended is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest has no Deck rating yet.
ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest vs ARK: Survival Ascended — FAQ
- Which is better, ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest or ARK: Survival Ascended?
- On Steam reviews ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest scores higher (73.4% positive) than ARK: Survival Ascended (60.3% positive). Both have enough reviews to trust the signal, so for players using reviews alone, ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest is the safer pick. Genre fit still matters — check the side-by-side table for the categories each game lands in.
- Should I play ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest or ARK: Survival Ascended first?
- If you want chronology, ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest (2017) came out before ARK: Survival Ascended (2023). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest and ARK: Survival Ascended similar?
- They overlap on Action, Indie, Adventure on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Do both ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest and ARK: Survival Ascended have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: ARK: The Survival Of The Fittest ships Co-op; ARK: Survival Ascended ships Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op.