s ▁surface ▁was ▁dr ast ically ▁alter ed ▁as ▁a ▁result , ▁introdu cing ▁radical ▁changes ▁in ▁top ography , ▁the ▁ext inction ▁of ▁plant ▁and ▁animal ▁species , ▁and ▁the ▁emer gence ▁of ▁new ▁species . ▁After ward , ▁Hum ans ▁and ▁V ot ans ▁were ▁forced ▁to ▁live ▁together . ▁Player ▁characters ▁are ▁en list ed ▁as ▁" Ar k ▁Hun ters " ▁by ▁industrial ist ▁Karl ▁Von ▁Bach ▁to ▁search ▁the ▁Bay ▁Area ▁for ▁advanced ▁and ▁expensive ▁al ien ▁technology . ▁Play ers ▁also ▁take ▁part ▁in ▁side ▁miss ions ▁to ▁ear n ▁c ash ▁or ▁challeng es ▁in ▁which ▁they ▁comp ete ▁with ▁other ▁Ark ▁Hun ters . ▁ ▁Development ▁Def iance ▁had ▁been ▁in ▁development ▁since ▁August ▁ 2 0 0 8 . ▁It ▁started ▁as ▁a ▁collabor ative ▁effort ▁between ▁Tr ion ▁and ▁Sy f y ▁to ▁make ▁a ▁video ▁game ▁that ▁ran ▁alongside ▁a ▁television ▁series . ▁The ▁publish er ▁has ▁reported ly ▁spent ▁more ▁than ▁$ 7 0 ▁million ▁during ▁development . ▁ ▁The ▁game ' s ▁business ▁model ▁was ▁changed ▁from ▁a ▁paid ▁game ▁to ▁a ▁free - to ▁play ▁game ▁on ▁May ▁ 1 , ▁ 2 0 1 4 ▁so ▁as ▁to ▁introduce ▁the ▁game ▁to ▁a ▁bro ader ▁audience . ▁Tr ion ▁World s ▁also ▁added ▁that ▁they ▁would ▁consider ▁the ▁possibility ▁of ▁developing ▁a ▁port ▁for ▁Play Station ▁ 4 ▁and ▁X box ▁One ▁once ▁the ▁cons oles ▁have ▁a ▁large ▁player ▁base . ▁ ▁In ▁October ▁ 2 0