Ark: Survival Evolved has had its ups and downs along the way, from bringing regular content updates down to controversy over pricing and the state of the actual sandbox survival game. The latest issue for Ark revolves around the system requirements for higher graphical settings on the PC version, which come in with some pretty eye-watering statistics.

The requirements for ARK Wyvern – Ark: Survival Evolved at first seemed particularly low upon first glance, which would have come as good news for many players, especially for those with low-end PC rigs. However, this no longer appears to be the case if you want to get the most out of the sandbox experience that Studio Wildcard has to offer.

According to recent testing, the Medium graphical preset at 1920×1080 resolution has run into some issues for many, with a number of budget video cards experiencing problems even at these mid settings. The likes of the Nvidia GTX 970 is hitting an average of 48FPS, which of course isn’t ideal for those wanting to hit 60FPS to experience Ark. If you’re one to demand such heights, then recommended video cards include the 6GB GTX 1060, which comes in at around 59FPS, whilst the RX Vega 56 goes up to 71FPS, which is probably the best option.

The Epic preset is proving to be much more troublesome for reaching graphical contention, with the GTX 1080 Ti seemingly being the only GPU which is capable of getting into the range of 60FPS. The only other video cards that come close to this are the GTX 1080, which clocks in at 52FPS, followed by the RX Vega 64 at 46FPS.

There’s something about Ark: Survival Evolved that seems to be somewhat of a one step forward, one step back situation in the eyes of many. This statement is by no means based on the graphical requirements that have come to the surface, rather it’s another form of setback as far as the survival game is concerned.

It has been well documented as to the shortcomings that Ark has faced so far since its initial inception. Studio Wildcard has come under criticism on a number of occasions for a variety of different reasons, ranging from delays, cost and everything in between.

For example, many felt that the price hike that was implemented when the game went from early access to full release was unjustified. This wasn’t necessarily based on the amount itself, but rather the unfairness of it given the game’s progress. It could be argued that Ark doesn’t feel finished in certain areas, which is what makes it completely understandable for players to feel that paying more for an unfinished product is unjustified.

This wasn’t the only controversy that has surrounded the game so far. The concept of requesting players pay to rent private servers to host their own games was always something that was never going to sit well. Not only that, but expanding on the previous point regarding Ark being unfinished, it has also come under fire for releasing DLC at such an early stage. With a plethora of players feeling that the game still isn’t complete, to then have to pay for downloadable content at this stage seems confusing.

Studio Wildcard are doing a great job at bringing updates and new content to Ark: Survival Evolved, but the reveal of higher PC settings will feel like another setback for many.