Yesterday, we covered the announcement from Studio Wildcard that if their title Ark: Survival Evolved won the "Best Use of a Farm Animal" Steam Award they would add a sheep, called the Ovis Aries, to the game. Today, they've changed gears announcing instead that the Ovis Aries will be coming to the game in the next major Ark: Survival Evolved update regardless of whether or not they win the Farm Animal award.
In fact, they've gone so far to delete yesterday's post, and the only way to find out about it is an archive of yesterday's post. There are some interesting parallels and changes between the posts, and one of the other most interesting changes is that they take a time to thank everyone for nominating them for the competition. Additionally, they address some of the complaints that Ark: Survival Evolved lacks "traditional" farm animals by explaining that the roles they fill are very similar and are domesticated like farm animals are.
Further in the post, they explain that they will show more about the Ovis on Thursday, including how they are coming along in being added to the game.
Quick Take
Yesterday's post joined a long line of mistakes by Studio Wildcard and the overwhelming negative community response appears to have prompted them to change how they are handling the situation. The explanation regarding the fact that the tamed/domesticated dinosaurs serve a similar role to traditional farm animals is also likely aimed at many critiques that were leveled at Ark: Survival Evolved's inclusion on the ballot for Best Use of a Farm Animal.
Personally, my takeaway from it is Studio Wildcard still hasn't figured out how to stop and think about what they are doing. I also think it would have been better if today they said they had heard people and explained the change rather then pretending the other post never existed.
What do you think of this change? Do you think Studio Wildcard handled it the right way? What do you plan on voting for in the "Best Use of a Farm Animal" category? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
