For a long time, the advocates of user-generated content in video game development stated that the field will grow in both likely and unlikely areas. The safe bet for the expansion of UGC is the massive gaming ecosystems, which are already creating countless user-made experiences, including games like Minecraft and Fortnite.
Another domain that is ripe for expansion is the growing native UGC environments such as The Sandbox. However, a recent piece of news related to ARK: Survival Ascended and the beloved TV franchise from the 90s, Power Rangers, may indicate growth in a very unlikely area. Through a collaboration between these entities, as well as CurseForge, which is a platform for modding, players and creators will be able to enjoy this odd-sounding but very promising partnership.
If you grew up in the 1990s, you are most likely familiar with the Power Rangers franchise. The live-action series features gigantic monsters, action-packed fights on human and skyscraper size, and some exceedingly corny acting. However, today, the Power Rangers are a valuable intellectual property being held by Hasbro, the huge toy and entertainment company, and more precisely, its subsidiary Wizards of the Coast.
They made a deal with Studio Wildcard, the creators of ARK: Survival Ascended, which kicked off on June 17, 2024. Through the technical support of a third party, CurseForget, a modding platform operating across different devices and OS setups, ARK players will now have access to a range of elements from the Power Rangers creative universe.
To ensure the quality of the branded elements, CurseForge acquired the service of Look North World - a video game publisher and studio that focuses on user-generated content. This way, the Ark modding scene will have access to the skins of the original Mighty Morphin Power Ranger characters, as well as the weapons that the rangers use.
Finally and most interestingly, the modding community will be able to add Zords into their creations. Zords are huge battle robots that the Power Rangers use throughout the series. Made in the tradition of Japanese manga mecha robots, Zords will likely open up a range of possibilities for game design solutions. Besides that, their very presence, just like the instantly recognizable Power Rangers themselves, offers a big marketing boost for ARK.
Many in the global gaming community are not aware that ARK has a vibrant modding community. However, ARK: Survival Ascended saw over 190 million downloaded mods in a very short time (starting when it came out in 2023). These were both PC and console downloads, showing the broad appeal of the dinosaur-hunting title.
Still, this did not happen on its own. Instead, since the game’s launch, its creators and publishers decided to seriously push the UGC aspect. With the support of CurseForge, the game immediately introduced its modding features, all of which operate on cross-platform principles. Presently, there are more than 1,500 ARK modes that are available to players on CurseForge. The executives from the Wizards of the Coast also explained that the strong modding community was one of the initial appeals of working with ARK.
While a lot of gaming user-generated content discussions revolve around the metaverse approach these days, where companies are linking up many features and capabilities, the old-school modding community is still a UGC power to be reckoned with. Instead of forcing players to enter a centralized hub of gaming content, mods allow for simpler, decentralized experiences.
In recent history, franchises like GTA built huge modding spaces for creators and players. It seems that Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast made a very shrewd business decision by ignoring the big metaverse players and instead, introduced their franchise to a much smaller gaming ecosystem. Nearly 200 million downloads show that the ecosystem has some incredible things to offer. If the collaboration turns out to be a long-term successful investment, other brands will certainly take notice. That possibility would be a great chance for many smaller video games that have vibrant modding communities around them.
