Summary
On August 03, 2025, the long-awaited Center map returns toArk: Survival Ascended. The map originally appeared inArk: Survival Evolved, first as a player-made modby Ben “EvilMrFrank” Burkart. Featuring an unusually high difficulty level, excellent loot, new biomes, and unique geographical features, The Center was a massive hit. It eventually got so popular that The Center became an official part of the game, and was released in 2016 as an official free DLC forArk: Survival Evolved.
Since its release in November 2023,Ark: Survival Ascended(a ground-up remake ofEvolved)has been slowly working its way through the spate of updates the original game received over its lifespan. The Center is its next venture, and represents one of the most significant updates toArk: Survival Ascendedsince launch. While it’ll probably be pretty similar overall to the version featured inEvolved, differences between the two games will inevitably affect the remake’s take on the DLC. Based on the original version of The Center and more recent changes to theArkformula, here’s everything to expect from the new map.
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Ark: Survival Ascended’s Center Map Comes With New Dinosaurs & Giganotosaurus Habitats
Ark’s New Ceratosaurus, Xiphactinus, & Gigantoraptor
First and foremost,the return of The Center coincides with the addition of three new creatures toArk: Survival Ascended: the Ceratosaurus, Xiphactinus, and Gigantoraptor. Each of these creatures can either be fought in the wild, or tamed for use in combat. The Ceratosaurus is a spined, horned theropod, known for its impressive speed and strength. Its spines are venomous, which helps it do massive damage over time, even to more formidable foes. And since it possesses an overwhelming desire to eat envenomed prey, this can be used in order to bait it in case the player ever has to distract one in the wild.
Much like The Center map, the Ceratosaurus and Xiphactinus also come from player-made content - in this case, mods created by user Garuga123.
InArk: Survival Ascended, the Xiphactinusis an aquatic creaturewhose most noticeable feature is its overlapping rows of razor-sharp teeth. Xiphactinus hunt in schools, using their numbers to overwhelm larger prey. Their bites can inflict the bleeding status effect, for a similar damage-over-time effect to the Ceratosaurus' venom. At the sight of blood, they go into a feeding frenzy that makes them faster and more powerful. Neither the Xiphactinus nor the Ceratosaurus is exclusive to The Center, but as they’re being added to the base game around the same time, the two are closely associated and will doubtless make an impact on one another.
Finally,the Gigantoraptor is exactly what it says on the tin: a gigantic raptor. These bipedal powerhouses resemble birds of paradise, with colorful plumage and elaborate crowns. Gigantoraptors are fiercely protective of their young, who imprint powerfully on their parents before reaching maturity. Their speed and deadly talons make them hardy companions. The problem, though, is that adult Gigantoraptors can’t be tamed; players will have to sneak past mom and dad in order to domesticate their babies.
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The Center will also provide players with new opportunities to find and tame the Giganotosaurus, one of the most powerfulcreatures inArk: Survival Ascended. The Giganotosaurus has always been closely associated with The Center, as in the original version, there was a small chance one would spawn anywhere on the map. In the eventual DLC, however, the Giganotosaurus was limited to the areas around the Northern Snowy Mountain and the Lava Biome. A valuable target both for taming and its useful drops, the Giganotosaurus is still pretty rare, but players have a higher likelihood of finding it when searching around certain areas of The Center.
Ark: Survival Ascended’s Center Map Features Unique Geographical Features
The Floating Island, Lava Biome, & Underground World
The centerpiece of The Center is its namesake,a giant, floating island situated near the middle of the map. Rocky, and pockmarked by extensive cave systems, The Center is an excellent source of metal and other mined materials. It also houses a large pond, which is home to a large population of Castoroides (also known as giant beavers). But it’s also home to many predators who are liable to push the player off the island and into The Cauldron below. The Cauldron itself is a large inland sea, rife with Megalodon. Players can also dive for pearls or harvest oil in its shallows.
The Center also features the Lava Biome, a scorched island laden with molten metal and igneous rock. It’s located in the northeastern corner of the map, far from The Center and the mainland that surrounds it, but its valuable resources make it a worthy destination. The Lava Biome is a great place to mine for obsidian and crystal, which are especially plentiful in its caves. However, its extreme heat poses an environmental hazard, demanding plenty of potable water to survive.
The small islands between the eastern jungles and the redwood forests make excellent places for starting bases, since they’re centrally located and few creatures spawn there.
In the jungles to the east of The Center lie six hidden entrances to The Underground World, an enormous cave system with an ecosystem all its own. Containing tropical forests, a subterranean sea, and a whole host of deadly dinosaurs, The Underground World is full of perils. It’s designed only to be accessed by late-game players with access to some ofArk: Survival Ascended’s flying dinosaurs, SCUBA gear, or at least some very powerful weapons.
The rest of The Center is split between snowy grasslands, redwood forests, and coastal swamps. Its other notable features include two snow-capped mountains, a skull-shaped island, and a pair of undersea domes that make the perfect staging grounds for underwater bases. It’s full of challenges for advanced players, requiring extensive knowledge of its many biomes, creatures, and requirements to survive and thrive.
How Ark: Survival Ascended’s Center Map May Be Different From Evolved’s
Potential New Features, Crafting Improvements, & Creature Changes
ButArk: Survival Ascendedis very different fromSurvival Evolved, and some of those differences will be on display in the remade DLC. For one thing,ASAincludes many creatures that were never a part ofASE. While it’s impossible to know just what creatures will be included in The Center, the ecosystem may be greatly changed with the addition of these new faunae.
The improved creature AI will also have an impact on The Center: namely,how dinosaurs navigate the narrow ledges and rocky cliffs of the new map. It may be easier to navigate these treacherous passes, which can ease some of the frustration. It won’t, however, do anything to make falling off the edge less deadly.
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In addition,previousASADLCs have altered or added new features to returning maps fromASE. There’s no reason not to expect the same for The Center map.Ascendedmoved the locations of Desert Loot Crates and Beacons inScorched Earth, which means that resource gathering points may differ in the new Center. The updated version ofScorched Earthalso included new cave systems and potential base locations. The Center is pretty jam-packed as it is, but there may be some new surprises for returning players.
For now, that’s all there is to know about the upcoming Center map, and likely all that’s due to be revealed prior to its launch. The Center will become available toArk: Survival Ascendedplayers worldwide on June 19, 2025, after which they’ll be able to set out and discover the scores of secrets it doubtless contains.
Ark: Survival Ascended
ARK: Survival Ascended is a reimagined version of the 2017 action-adventure survival MMORPG by the developers at Studio Wildcard and Grove Street Games. Built in Unreal Engine 5, players will return to ARK to build tribes, fight and tame dinosaurs, and brave the elements as they battle to survive in a unique sandbox where crafting and resource management is essential.
