Can you trust ARK: Survival Evolved's Steam reviews? Adjusted rating 82.2%
Overrated 800 positive and 800 negative reviews analyzed · data as of 2026-10-12
Summary
The adjusted rating for ARK: Survival Evolved is 82.2% (95% range 81.7–82.7%), in line with the official 83.3% on Steam. It is based on 800 positive and 800 negative reviews weighted by trust. Verdict: "Overrated" (the adjusted rating is 70% or higher, but the positive reviews carry low average trust).
The main driver is that positive reviews include more very short reviews (55% of positive vs 32% of negative). As a result, positive reviews average 0.64 in trust against 0.69 for negative ones. A smaller gap in reviews from accounts that own very few games (41% positive vs 21% negative) also contributes.
The monthly history (137 months) has no month where volume and negative share jumped together. The rating does not appear to be driven by a single episode.
The last 180 days show 83.7% (last 30 days: 84.6%), close to the all-time figure.
Japanese-language reviews alone show 77.7% (3,658 reviews, 95% range 76.3–79.0%), 5.6 points below the overall rating. Players writing in Japanese are noticeably less positive. In the last 180 days, Japanese-language reviews show 72.8%.
The adjusted rating estimates trust from how reviews are written; it does not judge any individual review as fake. Data as of 2026-10-12.
Positive vs negative breakdown
Share of sampled reviews that meet each condition that lowers trust. When a condition is more common on the positive side, the adjusted rating falls below the official one.
| Condition | Positive reviews | Negative reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2 hours played at review | 2% | 14% |
| Very short text | 55% | 32% |
| Key activated outside Steam | 17% | 26% |
| Received for free | 10% | 16% |
| Owns very few games | 41% | 21% |
| Over 100 reviews written | 0% | 1% |
| Average trust (1.0 = full) | 0.64 | 0.69 |
The median total playtime of the sampled reviewers is 42.3 hours.
Rating history
Monthly positive and negative review counts since release, as published by Steam.
Recent sentiment
| Period | Positive | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Last 30 days | 84.6% | 2,355 |
| Last 180 days | 83.7% | 18,684 |
| All time | 83.3% | 779,262 |
| Japanese, last 180 days | 72.8% | 92 |
About this verdict
- Every figure is computed from review data that Steam makes public. No AI estimation is used.
- Review text is never stored or republished. Read the actual reviews on Steam.
- Read the methodology and its limits
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