Fight Dinosaurs With a Candy Cane Weapon in Ark's Holiday Update

Dinosaur game Ark: Survival Evolved has received a crazy-sounding winter/holiday-themed update on PC.

Developer Studio Wildcard has pushed out a new update for the game that transforms the title into a "sparkling winter wonderland." Players will find an assortment of holiday items and challenges, as well as reindeer costumes delivered by "Raptor Claus," the studio said in a news release today.

As you can see in the video, various dinosaurs will wear Santa hats as part of the update, while you can wield a candy cane melee weapon to smack prehistoric penguins and other beasts.

Here's a roundup of some of the winter/holiday items available now in Ark.

• Holiday Lights
• Decorative Tree
• Wreaths
• Wall-Stockings
• Snowmen
• Giftable Loot-Containing Presents

Raptor Claus, Ark's take on Santa, will fly in the sky at nighttime, air-dropping presents for people who are good, but coal for "naughty" players. Some of the presents include "high-end Loot Blueprints" and gift codes. Collect enough coal, on the other hand, and you might be able to summon a holiday-themed version of the DodoRex.

This new update for Ark arrives at the start of the annual Steam Winter Sale. As part of the promotion, Ark is marked down 40 percent to $18 for the duration of the sale period.

In other Ark news, Studio Wildcard is hosting a "Survival of the Fittest" in-game battle on December 29. Two teams of 100 players each, aligning with either the "Naughty" or "Nice" tribes, will duke it out. The winning side gets $10,000 to donate to the charity of their choosing. The teams are made up of streamers and past tournament players. You can watch the event live on Twitch starting at 9 AM PST on December 29.

Ark's winter/holiday update is available only for the PC version. But that's not to say Studio Wildcard isn't supporting the recently launched Xbox One edition. The developer has written a thorough blog post that details the studio's efforts to improve the game's server performance on console.