Snail used its Investor Day at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City to present a cohesive picture of where the company sees its future – one that connects games, creators, and digital payments under a single ecosystem. The event brought together executives from Snail and Studio Wildcard to showcase their new stablecoin initiative and the multi-year content roadmap for the ARK franchise.
$USDO and a Utility-First Payments Layer
The most significant announcement was the public reveal of Snail’s planned U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin, $USDO, which the company positioned as a foundational payment layer across its entertainment network. Speaking during the presentation, Peter Kang, SVP at Snail Games USA, emphasized that the $USDO strategy is focused on utility and clarity rather than abstraction. “Digital dollars should be clear, understandable, and grounded in existing financial reality – no abstractions, no ambiguity, just dollars online.”
Kang described $USDO as a payments option designed to support creator payouts, digital purchases, and direct audience support across its ecosystem. The company also confirmed it has applied for relevant trademarks and completed extensive third-party smart contract security audits, with a public report planned as development progresses. From a regulatory standpoint, Snail is pursuing state-level licensing and approvals to operate within established compliance frameworks.
Following the event, I spoke with Kang, who provided additional context around how the rollout will begin. He told me that Snail plans to launch $USDO first in California, with expansion to additional states as regulatory approvals are secured.
Snail framed the stablecoin initiative as a natural extension of its long history building persistent virtual worlds and global gaming communities. “We have always seen ourselves as builders of virtual worlds where creators and communities interact at scale,” Kang said, pointing to long-standing challenges around slow, fragmented payments and access for global creators.
ARK: Survival Ascended Continues to Scale
Alongside the payments discussion, Snail devoted a significant portion of Investor Day to the evolution of ARK: Survival Ascended, the Unreal Engine 5 remaster of the original ARK. Studio Wildcard co-founder and lead designer Jeremy Stieglitz provided a detailed update on how the title has performed since launch and how it continues to expand.
Since its release, ARK: Survival Ascended has sold more than 4 million copies, a figure Snail highlighted as validation of the franchise’s enduring appeal. Beyond base game sales, Stieglitz emphasized how downloadable content and community-created mods have become a defining feature of the title’s ecosystem.
One of the game’s distinguishing elements is its robust support for user-generated content across platforms. Players can create new maps, creatures, modes, and cosmetic items using in-game tools, then upload and distribute that content not only on PC, but on consoles like Xbox and PlayStation as well. According to Snail, players have already created more than 5,000 mods, turning ARK into a platform that continues to evolve long after release. That mod pipeline has also enabled high-profile collaborations, including licensed crossovers that bring well-known characters and franchises into the ARK universe.
ARK: Lost Colony Arrives as a Major Expansion
The next major milestone for the franchise arrives with ARK: Lost Colony, a full-scale expansion for ARK: Survival Ascended. Snail confirmed during Investor Day that the expansion launches December 18, positioning it as the first major narrative and gameplay expansion since the remastered version launched.
According to Stieglitz, Lost Colony significantly advances the scope of the game, introducing new story elements, enemy types, and mechanics that reshape how players interact with the world. The expansion introduces AI-controlled enemy bases that players can raid, expanding the experience beyond traditional player-versus-player encounters. A darker tone and new thematic elements further differentiate Lost Colony from earlier content drops.
Snail also revealed that Lost Colony features a high-profile cast of voice talent, including Michelle Yeoh and Karl Urban.
A Multi-Year ARK Roadmap through 2027
Beyond Lost Colony, Snail outlined a structured roadmap that extends through 2027. Planned additions for 2026 include:
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A revitalized Survival of the Fittest mode, developed by Studio Sirens and positioned as a more fully supported competitive experience
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Bob’s True Tales: Tides of Fortune, expanding ARK’s narrative universe
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ARK: World Creator, which opens up deeper tools for players to build and share their own worlds
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ARK: Dragontopia, introducing new environments and gameplay dynamics
Looking ahead to 2027, Snail detailed more ambitious expansions:
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ARK: Atlantis, introducing large-scale new settings
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Bob’s True Tales: Galaxy Wars, shifting the franchise into a sci-fi-themed direction with space-based gameplay
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ARK: Legacy of Santiago – Part 1, a narrative prequel designed to bridge ARK: Survival Ascended and ARK II
Positioning for the Next Phase of Digital Entertainment
Snail’s Investor Day painted a picture of a company positioning itself at the intersection of gaming, digital payments, and creator-driven ecosystems. Rather than treating its blockchain initiative as a standalone experiment, Snail framed $USDO as a component of a broader, interconnected platform strategy. It is signaling how the company intends to evolve its role in digital entertainment – not only as a game publisher, but as an operator of the infrastructure that underpins how virtual worlds, creators, and players interact in the years ahead.
