The dinosaur-themed open world game ARK: Survival Evolved is still in Steam Early Access, but has already generated $10 million for developer Studio Wildcard. They’re spreading some of this wealth back to the game’s community by hosting a modding contest with a total prize pool of $25,000.
ARK: Survival Evolved added free modding tools after selling one million copies in July 2015. This contest will reward players who create new content in the game, as outlined in the contest guidelines.
New Maps – Diverse islands with plenty to explore and discover. Some interesting possibilities include new biomes such as Desert or an alien world, or even a focus on sci-fi, ruins, or underground environments. New content and mechanics are also possible within your map!
New Functionality or Game Mode – Rather than creating a new map, you could create a traditional “mod” that overrides existing game content or adds new mechanics. Some possibilities include competitive modes, rebalanced or modified survival mode, new structures and items — and with Unreal Engine 4 Blueprint scripting, you can extend the original game’s functionality in nearly unlimited ways!
There will be two rounds of judging between the game’s developers and the game’s players. Players have until Oct. 6, 2015 to create their mod and submit it to the Alienware Arena.
Three winners will split the $25,000 prize in the end. First place will win $15,000, a Alienware Area-51 Desktop, and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 TI Graphics Card.
Second place will win $5,000, a Alienware X51 Desktop,and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Graphics Card.
Third place will win $2,500 and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Graphics Card.
ARK: Survival Evolved has been extremely popular and this contest will reward fans with lots of new content and a few lucky ones with enough prize money to buy their entire Steam Wishlist.
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