Is ARK: Survival Evolved Cross Platform in 2026?
Partly. Xbox and Microsoft Store PC players share servers. Steam and Epic Games Store players connect on opt-in servers. PlayStation stays walled off.
Studio Wildcard closed the official servers on September 29, 2023, so ARK: Survival Evolved multiplayer now runs on player-hosted hardware.
TL;DR – ARK: Survival Evolved Crossplay Status
- Crossplay: Partial
- Consoles: Same family
- Mobile: Separate app
- Cross-save: Xbox only
- Cross-generation: The Xbox One build runs on Series X|S and the PS4 build runs on PS5, both through backward compatibility, so older discs still reach the same servers.
Nothing about ARK crossplay works by default. Someone has to run a server that allows it, unlike Sea of Thieves, where every platform shares one pool.
Crossplay vs Cross-Platform vs Cross-Save In ARK: Survival Evolved
Three separate questions get typed into search as one. ARK: Survival Evolved answers each differently.
| Feature | Supported |
|---|---|
| Cross-platform availability | Yes |
| Crossplay | PC and Xbox only |
| Cross-save | Xbox and Windows only |
The game shipped on PC, PS4 and Xbox One in August 2017, then reached Nintendo Switch in November 2018. Availability is wide. Matchmaking is not.
An Xbox account carries a character between the Xbox version and the Microsoft Store build under Xbox Play Anywhere. Steam characters go nowhere, unlike Warframe and its account-linked progression.
Which Platforms Can Play ARK: Survival Evolved Together?
Here’s how multiplayer actually works in ARK: Survival Evolved:
| Platform pairing | Supported |
|---|---|
| PC (Steam) ↔ PC (Epic Games Store) | ✔ Yes, on crossplay servers |
| PC (Microsoft Store) ↔ Xbox | ✔ Yes |
| PC (Steam) ↔ Xbox | No |
| PlayStation ↔ Xbox | No |
| Xbox ↔ Switch | No |
| Mobile | No crossplay |
Steam and Epic tribes only meet when the host launches the server with the crossplay flag enabled. Plenty of admins leave it off.
That storefront divide will look familiar to anyone who has read how DayZ splits its PC population. ARK at least gives server owners a switch.
PlayStation is the strict case. Sony’s build talks to no other version, the same limit Don’t Starve Together players run into. Diablo 4 links PlayStation and Xbox without that restriction.
Mobile is a different product. ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition has its own servers for iOS and Android, and none of them touch PC or console tribes.
What Is The Best Platform For ARK: Survival Evolved?
Steam holds the mods and the populated servers. Buy the Microsoft Store copy only if your friends play on Xbox, the way Halo Infinite pairs the two. Handheld players should check Steam Deck install base data first.
FAQs
Does ARK: Survival Evolved have crossplay in 2026?
Partly. Xbox connects with the Microsoft Store PC version, and Steam connects with the Epic Games Store version on servers that enable crossplay. PlayStation and Nintendo Switch stay separate.
Is ARK: Survival Evolved cross platform PC and Xbox?
Only with the Microsoft Store copy. That build and the Xbox version share servers and progress through Xbox Play Anywhere. Steam copies cannot join Xbox players at all.
Is ARK: Survival Evolved co op cross platform?
A tribe can mix Steam and Epic Games Store survivors, or Xbox and Microsoft Store survivors. It cannot mix those two groups, and PlayStation co-op stays PlayStation only.
Does ARK: Survival Evolved support cross-save?
No, apart from Xbox and Windows. Those two share one character through a Microsoft account. Steam, Epic, PlayStation, Switch and mobile each keep their own save files.
Will ARK: Survival Evolved Ever Be Cross Platform?
Unlikely. Wildcard moved development to ARK: Survival Ascended, which supports full crossplay across PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The 2017 release gets maintenance work rather than new matchmaking features.