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Elite Dangerous: Odyssey won't be VR-compatible at launch

While the current game supports VR, Frontier Developments confirmed it won't be the case when you get out of your ship at the launch of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey.

TJ Denzer

June 8, 2020 7:10 AM

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Elite Dangerous has some pretty excellent VR support as you fly through the cosmos exploring and taking on missions. Unfortunately, it seems like Frontier Developments won’t be porting that experience over to Elite Dangerous: Odyssey - at least not when the game first launches.

Frontier Developments announced the state of VR Support for Elite Dangerous: Odyssey in a FAQ-style post on the Elite Dangerous forums. Community Manager Tim Smith stated that while the team loves VR and are happy with what they’ve done with it so far in Elite Dangerous, Odyssey demands a little too much work to include the feature at launch.

“We’re big fans of VR and we are truly proud of the amazing experience that we currently offer in Elite Dangerous,” Smith wrote. “However, the new gameplay, mechanics and features that will be introduced with Elite Dangerous: Odyssey means that we had to re-examine if we could deliver that same experience without compromise, which, for launch, means Odyssey will not be VR-compatible.”

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is seemingly a massive new expansion for the Elite Dangerous franchise. The big change this time is players will be able to leave vehicles to explore planets on foot for the first time ever in the games. It’s slated for a launch supposedly in early 2021 on Steam, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, according to the game's website. Given that the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will also be out by the time Elite Dangerous: Odyssey launches, there’s little doubt Frontier Developments is also prioritizing getting the game onto the next generation of consoles over getting a VR mode ready for the game.

That said, Smith and Frontier Developments seemed to make it clear that VR support will only be off the table at launch for Elite Dangerous: Odyssey. It seems like it’s still a strong possibility we could see it find its way back to VR headsets later 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.