Ark: Survival Evolved players on Steam are in for a special New Year's Eve party tonight, at least if those gamers plan on staying in and playing the game: a giant ball will drop at midnight, and those players who are in their arks at the time are in for a "fantastic surprise."

However, that's not all, because starting today, there's a new creature roaming around the game's world: a Procoptodon, which is a giant prehistoric kangaroo that lets two players ride in its pouch at a time. The Procoptodon covers a lot of distances quickly, and, obviously, can easily jump over obstacles.

"It's been a thrilling six months on the Ark, and Studio Wildcard wishes all Survivors a Happy New Year!" writes the game's developer in an emailed press release. "Thank you to all our players and content creators for helping to make Ark such a success!"

The latest Ark update also adds a "Tribal Alliances" feature, which allows small tribes to come together to take down bigger tribes.

Ark: Survival Evolved takes players into a prehistoric world filled with dinosaurs, natural disasters and other possibly hostile players. The action-adventure survival game released through Steam's Early Access program earlier this year.

Players navigate the world of Ark by riding dinosaurs, although the option to ride on a giant kangaroo is now available. Players can also build their own camps, scavenge for weapons, build weapons and play in both single-player and multiplayer modes.

"As a man or woman stranded naked, freezing and starving on a mysterious island, you must hunt, harvest, craft items, grow crops and build shelters to survive," writes Studio Wildcard on the game's Steam page. "Use skill and cunning to kill, tame, breed and ride dinosaurs and primeval creatures living on Ark, and team up with hundreds of players or play locally!"

Ark: Survival Evolved is available now on Steam on sale for $17.99: this version of the game allows players to make their own custom maps and mods. Ark is also currently available through Microsoft's Game Preview on the Xbox One. The title will become available on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in 2016. Ark also supports both Project Morpheus and Oculus Rift.