Ark: Survival of the Fittest "Survivor League" details revealed

The Ark: Survival Evolved mod Survival of the Fittest was spun off into a free, standalone game earlier this month, as the first step in establishing the competitive esports Survivor League. Today, developer Studio Wildcard revealed how its new esports league, which will award cash prizes to the game's top 40 players each month, will work.

Survivor Leagues will be made up of the top ten players in each of the game's four modes, and will run for approximately 30 days. A clock and leaderboards will count down to the beginning of the next Survivor League period, and also track the top ten player rankings in real time. Rankings will not reset at the beginning of each new league, so it's possible for players to stay in the Survivor League for multiple months, but players who don't play for more than a week will see their scores begin to decay.

All active Ranked games count toward admission to the Survivor League, and players who make it in will be awarded a cash prize based on their ranking:

$3,500
$2,500
$1,800
$1,650
$1,500
$1,350
$1,200
$1,050
$900
$750

“Survivor League members will also be archived and celebrated throughout the game in the Survivor League Archives and members of this exclusive and honorary league will be invited to upcoming broadcasted Tournaments, so getting into the league is not just a way to win a large amount of money and glory, but also a way to earn even more prizes and glory in the future,” Studio Wildcard said. “We are serious about the Survival of the Fittest becoming a serious competitive e-sports game and with that, want to celebrate players who are dedicated and perform to the highest standard!”

The first Survivor League is set to begin on April 15. The clock is ticking now at survivetheark.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.