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Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will let players leave vehicles to explore planets in 2021

Frontier Developments intends to let players explore like never before in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey in early 2021.

TJ Denzer

June 3, 2020 10:00 AM

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Elite Dangerous has always allowed players to explore the vast reaches of space and planets with a caveat. All of it was consigned to the cramped interiors of spacecraft and vehicles. It looks like Frontier Developments finally wants to set us loose upon its universe in new ways. Elite Dangerous: Odyssey has been announced for early 2021, allowing players to take on new exploration via spacecraft, vehicle, and, for the first time, disembarking on foot.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey was announced by Frontier Developments on the game’s website and via a new trailer on June 3, 2020. Though it’s entirely a cinematic trailer of early footage for the game, Odyssey promises an experience in which players will be able to traverse the universe with much of the same freedom as previous games, with the addition of being able to disembark vehicles this time around in various missions of exploration, politics, and combat on planetary surfaces. Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is slated to come to Steam, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in Early 2021. There’s no word on next-gen systems PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at this time.

Elite Dangerous has, in the past, boasted a considerable amount of freedom in the game, allowing players to explore planets via land vehicles, make contact with aliens, and more. Even then, at one time, Frontier boasted that players had only unraveled a fraction of the game’s overall secrets after years of play. Elite Dangerous: Odyssey’s on-foot exploration will allow players an all new level of interaction in this regard. While exploring planets, players will discover settlements and outposts, be able to form alliances and procure services from NPCs, and engage in either diplomacy or aggression in their numerous encounters.

With quite some time between now and the game’s launch next year, stay tuned for more details on what Elite Dangerous: Odyssey has in store for us as we gear up for these all new away missions in 2021.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.