Last week VRFocus revealed the minimum specifications required to run Frontier Developments’ upcoming Elite Dangerous: Horizons with a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). This new release will kick off another season of content for the popular space simulation experience – which first launched in December 2014 – all of which will be VR compatible. Beta testing has been ongoing for the past few weeks but, today, the developer is finally ready to announce the full launch date for Elite Dangerous: Horizons.
The expansion will launch on 15th December 2015 and is available to pre-order now for £39.99 GBP on Frontier Development’s own store. Anyone that does lay down an early order will be given access to the original version of Elite: Dangerous from which these updates build upon. This should also mean that the update for SteamVR support, adding in compatibility with the HTC Vive HMD, will be arriving next week, though the device itself now isn’t expected until April 2016. Support for the Oculus Rift will hopefully also be reintroduced once Oculus VR releases its first full production software development kit (SDK), 1.0.
The news was revealed alongside a new trailer that showcases the headline feature of the update – planetary landings. This allows players to set down on planets for the very first time and pilot ground-based vehicles across their surfaces, adding a completely new dimension to the Elite: Dangerous experience. Outside of this, later updates will include new looting and crafting systems, multicrew ships, avatar creation, ship-launched fighters, new missions and ships and new multiplayer arenas as part of the Close Quarter Combat (CQC) Arenas. There’s plenty more to look forward to for one of VR’s biggest videogames in 2016, then.
VRFocus will continue to follow Elite Dangerous: Horzions, reporting back with any further updates to the title.
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