Our galaxy.  Its an awe inspiring, beautiful, vast place; with billions of star systems, planets, moons and asteroid fields just waiting to be explored, and exploited. The triumvirate superpowers of the Empire, Federation and Independents dominate their core system volumes and constantly skirmish to outmaneuver one another on their frontiers. Outside their influence, in the vast majority of the galaxy, anarchy reigns supreme and spectacular discoveries await the bold.

Its dog-eat-dog out there – you need to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Whether you want to trade for profit between systems, take part in multiplayer co-op mission alliances, free-for-all group battles and team raids to bring down planetary economies, even tip the balance of power in the galaxy (for your own advantage, of course..), or simply explore the wonders of the galaxy (and who knows what you’ll find out there..) is up to you.

Building upon an install base of 12 million Elite owners, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey marks the birth of a new era for the long running definitive space simulation, allowing players to touch down on newly accessible planets with light atmospheres beautifully rendered by stunning new technology; to explore, to engage in combat and trade, take on missions, work together or alone over their surfaces with complete freedom from a first person, feet-on-the-ground perspective.

Taking life on the frontier of space to new depths, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey’s emergent gameplay will let players forge their own path through a wide variety of missions, ranging from diplomacy and commerce to lethal stealth and all-out combat. Diverse settings, objectives, and NPCs will offer endless mission variety and a near infinite amount of content to enjoy.

Greetings Commanders.

With the release of Update 5 on 1st July plus a few smaller server updates since, and Update 6 currently in development, I wanted to take a moment of your time to talk about the next steps for Elite Dangerous.

We are aware and fully accept the frustration that many of our players have had with their experience of Elite Dangerous Odyssey. The community have spoken, we have heard the feedback clearly and we will act on that feedback.

As you may remember in our recent development article, the significant amount of updates and development effort that has been done to fix and improve issues since the launch of Odyssey has meant work on our console release has not progressed as quickly as we had hoped. What’s more, we can see that the strides we have made through the last five major updates are positive, but we must continue on with this progress to give the experience that you and we expect on PC.

With those things in mind, we have spent a lot of time discussing and re-evaluating our previous plans and we have made the decision to prioritise the core PC experience for Elite Dangerous. Ultimately, we believe it is right to focus our efforts on the core Elite Dangerous Odyssey experience for the platforms that we have released on, before opening up to more. We know that the work that we do to improve players’ experiences of Elite Dangerous Odyssey on PC will benefit other platforms in the future, but the dates and details of the console platforms are going to change. We do not want to rush into confirming any dates or changes this has on our console release, as we must remain fully focused on the core Elite experience. Only when we feel that the foundation of the PC release is solid, will we be able to re-lay our console roadmap on top.

Elite Dangerous Odyssey is an important step on a complicated journey, and we must get this right, before we can consider moving on to these new platforms.

So what does this actually mean for Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous Odyssey?

It means that we will see more game updates over the coming months. We will continue to work through Issue Tracker, fix bugs and improve performance, but we will also be able to explore and add additional features, content and improvements into the game.

We will continue to give open monthly development updates where we discuss WIP content, challenges, the issue tracker and more. We know that the previous levels of detail for the roadmap and developer update have not met expectations, but we are grateful for your patience while we shift and adjust plans, in the face of such clear feedback.

Please remember that our team here at Frontier are working hard to support the game and our community. Behind every bug fix, design decision and community post is a person who cares a lot about giving our players best possible experience. I would ask that everyone remains calm and respectful when sharing their thoughts and feedback.

We all have the same goal and we will get there, together. Please bear with us.

o7 Commanders.

Exploration has always been at the core of the Elite Dangerous experience. With the highly anticipated arrival of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey in early 2021, this fundamental aspect of the game takes on a completely new dimension by introducing on-foot exploration of atmospheric planets. Players will leave the protection of their spaceships and venture out and discover the secrets and hazards those new worlds have to offer, experiencing the thrill of leaving their footprints over previously unexplored terrain.  

The Elite Dangerous: Odyssey development team is lavishing great care and attention to detail in the authentic recreation of the ice and rocky planets players will be landing on. Surface pressure, volcanism, atmospheric composition and other geological agents all play a key part on the structure and natural features of each world, capriciously moulding their appearance and making them unique and distinctive.

One of the most stunning changes Elite Dangerous: Odyssey’s on-foot exploration will bring to the game is a completely new perception of scale. When disembarking from their spaceships, players will notice never seen before details, like alien vegetation. This exotic flora can be analysed to obtain genetic information from every new variant encountered, and players can profit from their discoveries by trading in the data.

Conflict will rage as players venture into Elite Dangerous: Odyssey’s intense combat experience. Coordinating with your teammates and selecting the right equipment for the mission at hand will be key to master a multi-layered, tactical sphere of group combat where Commanders, SRVs and starships converge.

Though the Elite Dangerous universe can be a cutthroat, unforgiving place, players can find solace and regroup in social hubs spread throughout the galaxy to plan their next contracts, form new alliances and even procure the coveted services of the Engineers. These public spaces are also the ideal place to acquire and upgrade weapons and gear to suit each Commander’s own gaming style.

Your second-to-second actions could have you taking the roles of trader, pirate, bounty hunter, leader, team player, opportunistic assassin, grand schemer, and more. You are at the centre of the action any time, any place and any way you choose – each action has a consequence, and influences the galaxy around you.

Starting with a few credits and a basic starship, carve your own path through the richest, largest gaming sandbox ever created, set against a backdrop of raw anarchy, galactic powerplays and intrigue.  Do whatever it takes to upgrade your ship’s hull, engines, weapons, defences, cargo hold; constantly improve your capabilities and influence on your journey towards the most coveted rank in the history of gaming - ‘Elite’.

Fight, trade, hunt your way across a giant galaxy of billions of star systems, starting with a basic starship and a few credits. You can make money from trading goods between the many star systems, by destroying pirate ships (and collecting bounty), or even by attacking traders and collecting their cargo (which in turn will get a bounty on your head!). There will be missions too, and exploration. Most people will do some combination of these things. Upgrade your ship and specialize in one activity - have a trader with a huge cargo bay, or use the space for weapons and maneuverability.

• Real Freedom - Go where you like, be what you like - pirate, bounty hunter, trader, assassin, or some mix of all of these.
• Trade - Buy low, cross dangerous space lanes, evade or destroy pirates en route, then sell high, if you make the journey!
• Fight - Take on the pirates or be one yourself
• Progress - Get your pilot rating all the way from "Harmless" to "Elite"
• Explore - Head out to the far reaches of space and discover amazing sights

And the best part - you can do all this online with your friends, or other "Elite" pilots like yourself, or even alone. The choice is yours...  

Elite Dangerous is available for PS4, Xbox One and PC (Steam, the Epic Games Store and FrontierStore.net).