Actor Vin Diesel has joined Studio Wildcard; acting as an executive producer for Ark II and ARK: The Animated Series.

People were surprised to see actor Vin Diesel during the announcement of Ark II. Voicing and lending his likeness to Santiago Da Costa, Diesel is also playing the character in ARK: The Animated Series. A report from The Hollywood Reporter and an announcement from Studio Wildcard has shed light on the reason.

Diesel is now Studio Wildcard’s President of Creative Convergence, and is currently acting as an executive producer for both Ark II and ARK: The Animated Series. Diesel reportedly stated “I’m having a lot of fun playing ARK and also really excited to join the Studio Wildcard team to develop the story both in game and in the new animated series.”

Studio Wildcard’s CEO Doug Kennedy also offered his high praise of Diesel, not just as an actor and producer, but as a fan of ARK: Survival Evolved.

“An immensely talented actor and producer, Vin is also an accomplished gamer who has played 1000’s of hours of ARK: Survival Evolved. He understands the game intimately and is providing direct feedback to the development process. With last night’s reveal of the ARK sequel and animated TV series, Vin will be involved with each as we look to expand the ARK franchise even further, now and into the future.”

This is not Diesel’s first foray into video games outside of voice rolls. He founded Tigon Studios in 2002, who developer The Wheelman and published several Chronicles of Riddick video games. Currently they are developing MMO Barca B.C. 

Diesel is also a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, and wrote the foreword for 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons. He also appeared in the Critical Role episode D&Diesel, which promoted the film The Last Witchhunter.

Ark II is coming soon to Windows PC and “next-gen platforms.” ARK: The Animated Series premieres in 2022, with fourteen 30-minute episodes and two seasons in production.

Image: Wikipedia