ARK: Survival Ascended - Genesis Transfers Open September 4, Temporary Servers Close September 18

Studio Wildcard has confirmed two important dates for Genesis Ascended Part 1. Transfers onto the map will open across the official network on September 4, 2026, while the temporary Genesis Part 1 Expires servers will shut down permanently on September 18.

The announcement mainly affects players using Wildcard's official servers. If you host ARK: Survival Ascended on a private dedicated server, including a VeryGames server, the September 18 shutdown does not mean your Genesis world is going to disappear.

Genesis Ascended Transfers Open on September 4

Starting September 4, Studio Wildcard will remove the transfer restrictions currently applied to Genesis Ascended Part 1 on its official network.

Players will then be able to transfer characters, creatures and items onto Genesis Part 1 without restriction, making it much easier for established tribes to bring resources and tames from their other official ARKs.

This is an important change for the official ecosystem because newly released maps traditionally spend a period with incoming transfers restricted. That gives players starting directly on the new map some time to progress before mature characters and large inventories begin arriving from elsewhere.

Genesis Part 1 Expires Servers Close on September 18

The more urgent date is September 18, 2026. Wildcard says the temporary servers named Genesis Part 1 Expires will be permanently closed on that date.

By opening transfers on September 4, Wildcard is effectively providing players on these temporary servers with approximately two weeks to evacuate anything they want to keep.

Characters, valuable creatures and transferable items should therefore be moved to another compatible official server before the shutdown. Anything left behind when those servers disappear should be considered at risk of being lost with the server.

Do VeryGames ARK Server Owners Need to Do Anything?

For most VeryGames customers, no action is required. The September 18 shutdown concerns specific temporary servers operated as part of Wildcard's official ARK network. A Genesis Part 1 world running on your own private VeryGames server is not one of those servers and will not automatically close.

You therefore do not need to move your tribe, download your save or migrate your players simply because September 18 is approaching.

The same distinction applies to the September 4 transfer date. Wildcard's announcement concerns restrictions on its official servers. If your community operates several private ARK servers as a cluster, transfers between those worlds depend on the configuration chosen by the server administrator.

In other words, September 4 should not be treated as a date when every unofficial server administrator needs to edit a configuration file. If your cluster transfers already work the way you want them to, there is currently no announced reason to change them because of this Community Crunch.

Astraeos Gets Its Final Update on August 26

The same Community Crunch also confirms another important ARK date. The final Astraeos update is scheduled for August 26.

Its headline addition is the Boaratos, a powerful fiery creature built for close combat. Wildcard describes it as capable of combining physical attacks, fire damage and bleeding effects, while also providing utility around a tribe when harvesting trees.

For communities currently running Astraeos, this update is more relevant from a technical server perspective than the September official-network transfer changes. The server will need to run a compatible updated version once the new content is released.

What VeryGames Server Administrators Should Watch

VeryGames installs the latest available ARK: Survival Ascended server version automatically by default. Administrators can also choose manual configuration or delay deployment when they prefer to control exactly when an update reaches their community.

That means there is currently very little preparation required for these announcements:

• Genesis private server: no migration required before September 18.
• Private ARK cluster: check your own transfer rules only if you want to change how players move between maps.
• Astraeos server: allow the August 26 server update to deploy when available.
• Manual or delayed updates enabled: make sure your server is moved to the compatible version before reopening it to players after the Astraeos update.
• Official Genesis Part 1 Expires player: transfer anything important before September 18.

The key point is simple: Wildcard is retiring part of its own temporary server infrastructure, not Genesis itself. Communities running persistent private servers remain in control of their worlds, saves and transfer policies.

Source: Studio Wildcard — Community Crunch 519: Tusk, Tusk, Boom!