My big question is will we be able to set our servers to Genesis after official launch or will we have to wait? I plan to stream, so I want to be able to know so I can set an accurate schedule and also due to curiosity. Thanks in advance!

ARK 'expansions' are rolled out as part of the core game. so when the core game gets the update, The expansion will be pushed with it.

Every server host will be at the same point, because there's no `pre-load to ensure it's ready to play' option given how the ark system works it's file system.

The whole world gets the windows version of the new map first. Sometimes they also get the Linux and Mac versions at the same time.

This means through a teeny tiny pipe of bandwidth you have 48,385 players trying to all download Genesis at once.

PLUS all the servers out there that have ARK on them.

Plus all the game hosts out there that wish to have servers ready in case someone decides to put ARK on that server.

PLUS all the SteamPipe cache servers/services.

All in all, probably closer to 100,00 download requests all at once over a service that had trouble when the last update to Conan Exiles hit. (9,634 players.)

TL;DR In short: ARKServers.io will have access to Genesis as soon as you have access and as late as when all the dust settles and WildCard realizes they forgot to compile the Linux files. That doesn’t mean you’re gonna be able to stably play at that time.

Extinction had some pretty nasty bugs at the jump. It took MONTHS before Beavergeddon was finally fixed. Weeks before the OSD system and Elemental veins stopped exploding bases. And lag on single player (not just servers) was so bad the game wasn’t really playable for the first couple of days.

Cool. Wanted to be sure, I've seen some hosts not have it after release for a day or so. Personally I think this host is one of the best and have shown them to my friends who host. Thanks again for the info, I do appreciate it!