Ark: Survival Evolved, Gloomhaven Free on Epic Games for Limited Time

Ark: Survival Evolved and Gloomhaven will be free to download via Epic Games Store for a limited time. In a tweet, the publisher confirmed that the Jurassic era-themed online survival game, alongside the 2021 turn-based co-op dungeon crawler Gloomhaven, will be up for free download this week. The promotion ends on September 29, at 8:30pm IST in India. This would be the third time Ark is being given away for free, since 2020 on EGS and earlier this year on Steam.

With Ark: Survival Evolved, Studio Wildcard redefined the survival genre, by tossing players onto an island inhabited by dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. Housing all the bells and whistles in the space, such as item crafting, exploration, and hunting for food, the dangers were amplified, causing players to team up with or betray other survivors online and dominate. You can either choose to hunt the beasts for food and clothing (leather) or even befriend them to use as rides, as you charge into an enemy base.

The free listing on Epic Games Store also includes the Modkit and multiple Ark Expansion Maps — just like before. On Steam, Ark costs Rs. 529. There's also a sequel launching next year, which is set on a new planet and comes packaged with a single-player campaign starring Vin Diesel. The Fast & Furious star is executive producing the game, and will appear in an accompanying animated series.

A digital adaptation of the eponymous board game, Gloomhaven is the second free offering this week. Drawn to the titular unforgiving realm, players assume the role of a band of mercenaries, and carve their way through terrifying dungeons, dreadful forests, and caves, in search of rewards. The top-down, tabletop RPG comes with 17 characters, equipped with unique skills and over 1,000 abilities to master. Stacking a deck of ability cards beforehand, players engage in tactical turn-based combat to lay waste to foes. Gloomhaven is listed for Rs. 999 on Steam.

Epic Games Store currently has a live sale going on, tailored to Rockstar Games. Both Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V are being offered at a 50 percent discount. Earlier this week, the publisher made headlines, following a leak that unveiled a trove of over 90 videos showing GTA 6 gameplay. As per PC Gamer, the footage was leaked on the GTAForums by a user named “teapotuberhacker.” The hacker also claimed credit for the Uber hack from last week.