ARK: Survival Ascended developer Studio Wildcard has recently shared a hilarious trailer for its 2023 action-adventure survival game, which employed the duo of Disney's iconic rodents to demonstrate the title's new Custom Cosmetics system and ARK Dev Kit.

In case you somehow missed the news, on January 1, 2024, the earliest versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse entered the public domain according to US copyright law. This allows creators to freely share, reuse, and repurpose the classic Steamboat Willie renditions of the Mouse family without fear of legal consequences from Disney. As expected, this copyright expiration has inspired many creators to incorporate these characters into their games, movies, and artworks, with Studio Wildcard now joining the trend.

The trailer in question showcased Mickey and Minnie as in-game cosmetics, unveiling the new mod-driven Custom Cosmetics system, which enables users to dynamically apply player-generated costumes to characters and dinosaurs, as well as skins to armors, weapons, and all structures within the game.

Additionally, the pair assisted Wildcard in introducing the updated ARK Dev Kit, a customized version of the Unreal Engine 5 Editor, which now allows for Total Conversions thanks to a powerful and flexible new framework that empowers creators to build entirely new games from scratch within ARK. Leveraging the upgraded toolset, the team has set up a black-and-white side-scroller, dubbed Super Steamboat Willie, to show how players can set up custom maps, game modes, and experiences with the novel framework.