Here’s a nomination for you: Dumbest online controversy of the year. And the award goes to… ARK: Survival Evolved!
What happened here is that ARK was nominated by Steam for a “best use of a farm animal” award. Studio Wildcard decided to offer the community with a sheep if players helped ARK to win the award. In response, fans raised a major stink over the move.
“Bribing is bribing, and if someone wanted to vote for another game title they feel deserve it more, they are robbed of a new dino for a early access game they paid for and opted in to play/test the game as it’s created,” one poster on Reddit argued.
The ensuing controversy forced Wildcard to backtrack and say that it would include the “Ovis Aries” no matter what.
“We were encouraged by Valve to rally the community to come together and vote in the upcoming Steam Awards,” the studio said in its post update. “We thought what better way to do this than add a modern-day farmyard animal! In our excitement, Ovis Aries was designed as a celebration of the nomination. We want to make it clear that regardless of whether ARK wins a Steam Award or not, Ovis will be making its debut in the next major ARK version update!”
So what have we learned here? Never get between players and their unbridled love of a fluffy sheep.
