When is ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland? Start date and how to play

ARK Survival Ascended has now been fully available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC since the end of November. It is an absolute blast for both newcomers as well as fans of the original ASE, and 2024 promises to be a fantastic year for the community. However, before the new year comes around, the game will celebrate Christmas. Studio Wildcard has confirmed the official date for when the ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland 2023 event will start, and they have also shared how to play along with all of the new creatures, skins, chibis, and more.

It is still only available in early access format, but the game is definitely worth buying right now. Studio Wildcard has shared their full release schedule and roadmap for 2024/25, and all of the maps from ASE will eventually become available fully remade in Unreal Engine 5. Away from official add-ons, what’s best about ASA is the crossplay allowing PS5 and Xbox users to download mods on console. Mods are rarely ever downloadable on PlayStation and Xbox, so this is a feature that truly makes ASA stand out.

While maps and mods are great, what’s also key to ARK Survival Ascended is seasonal events. We have just got done celebrating the Turkey Trial, and now Christmas is around the corner with Winter Wonderland 2023.

When does the ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland 2023 event start?

The start date for the ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland 2023 event is December 21st. This is confirmed by Studio Wildcard in their community crunch 390 blog post. This blog post is worth a gander as, aside from details about the event covered here, it also discusses merch such as t-shirts and plushy collectibles.

Unfortunately, there is no mention of exactly what time the event will start. But, after starting on December 21st, it will end on January 7th. This means you will have more than two weeks to celebrate and get over your Christmas hangover.

How to start and play the ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland 2023 event

Per Studio Wildcard, you will need to start the ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland 2023 event by downloading and installing it from the mods list if playing on non-dedicated/singe-player servers. Below are the official steps:

• From the Main Menu, select the mod tab.
• Search for Winter Wonderland in the ARK Mod list and Install it.  
• After it’s installed, go back to your game setup screen and select ‘Mod Settings’
• You will see Winter Wonderland and any other mods you’ve downloaded in ‘Available Mods’
• Select Winter Wonderland and activate it.

You can also enable the event while playing on private servers. You will need to change the server command-line launch arguments to -mods=modID. The mod ID hasn’t been shared as of December 20th, but it will be posted by Studio Wildcard through patch notes when the Christmas event begins.

ASA Winter Wonderland 2023 event creatures, skins, and rewards

Below are all the creatures, skins, rewards, and more for the ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland 2023 event:

Event rates:

• PVP/PVE: 1.5x Harvesting, Taming, and Experience + 1.5x Breeding
•  Small Tribes: 4x Harvesting, Taming, and Experience + 3.5x Breeding
•  ARKpocalypse: 4.5x Harvesting, Taming and Experience + 4.5x Breeding

Creatures:

• RaptorClaus
•  Santa’s Big Helper Yeti – Drops Coal and Mistletoe. *NEW*
•  Abominable Snowman – Drops Coal and Mistletoe. *NEW*
•  Pegomastax Grouch- Drops Coal and Mistletoe. Steals Gift Boxes in return for a special reward. *NEW*
•  Wild Rideable Reindeer – Drops Coal and Mistletoe. Can be fed Rockarrot and ridden for additional drop amounts. *NEW*

Chibis:

• RaptorClauss *NEW*
•  Hyaenadeer *NEW*

Emotes:

• Caroling Emote
•  Happy Clap Emote
•  Nutcracker Dance Emote
•  Shiver Emote *NEW*
•  Snow Angel Emote *NEW*

Skins: 

• Blue-Ball Winter Beanie Skin
•  Candy Cane Club Skin
•  Christmas Bola Skin
•  Dino Ornament Swimsuit Skins
•  Felt Reindeer Antlers Skin
•  Gray-Ball Winter Beanie Skin
•  Green-Ball Winter Beanie Skin
•  HLN-A Winter Beanie Skin
•  Jerboa Wreath Swimsuit Skins
•  Megaloceros Reindeer Costume
•  Noglin Regift Winter Beanie Skin
•  Noglin Swimsuit Skins
•  Nutcracker Slingshot Skin
•  Purple-ball Winter Beanie Skin
•  Purple-Ball Winter Beanie Skin (Winter Wonderland 5)
•  Raptor Sleighing Winter Beanie Skin
•  Red-Ball Winter Beanie Skin
•  Santa Costume Skin
•  Santa Hat Skin
•  Snowy Winter Beanie Skin
•  Ugly Carno Sweater Skin
•  Ugly Chibi Sweater Skin
•  Ugly Bronto Sweater Skin
•  Ugly Bulbdog Sweater Skin
•  Ugly Caroling Sweater Skin
•  Ugly Noglin Regift Sweater Skin
•  Ugly Raptor Claws Sweater Skin
•  Ugly Rockwell Sweater Skin
•  Ugly T-Rex Sweater Skin
•  Yeti Swimsuit Skins
•  Full-body Krampus Costume Player Character Skin/Cosmetic  *NEW*
•  Santa’s Workshop Smithy Structure Skin  *NEW*
•  Festive Forge Structure Skin  *NEW*

Items:

•  Coal
•   Festive Dino Candy
•   Gift Box
•   Holiday Lights
•   Holiday Stocking
•   Holiday Tree
•   Mistletoe
•   Snowman
•   Wreath

Wild creature colors:

• Lavender
•  Dino Light Purple
•  Dino Light Blue
•  DragonGreen0
•  ActualBlack
•  Cyan
•  DeepPink
•  Dino Dark Purple
•  Mint
•  Jade
•  PineGreen
•  SpruceGreen
•  DarkMagenta
•  Glacial
•  PowderBlue
•  Teal
•  DarkViolet
•  Red
•  Green
•  Light Grey
•  Light Red
•  Dark Red
•  Dino Light Red
•  Dino Light Green
•  Dino Medium Green
•  Dino Albino
•  NearWhite
•  Yellow

And that’s everything coming with the ARK Survival Ascended Winter Wonderland 2023 event. If you’re just beginning ASA, check our guide for how to tame your first dinosaur. You can also check out our guide to all of the new features in the remake.