With major PC-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) finally set to release in the next few months, VR developers will finally be able to start selling their compatible videogames. It remains to be seen just how well some of this software will perform, although one VR supported title that’s been available for over a year now has today announced that it’s selling well. That title is Elite: Dangerous from UK-based studio Frontier Developments, which has announced sales of 1.4 million copies.
Elite: Dangerous is a space simulation experience that first launched back in December 2014 after a successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign and an extensive period of Alpha and Beta testing, which the community was heavily involved in. December 2015 also saw it launch its second season of content updates with Elite Dangerous: Horizons, which added planetary landings to the experience for the first time.
“We have an amazing player community,” Frontier CEO David Braben said of the news. “The average play time among our 1.4 million players is 60 hours – that’s a massive 84 million player hours and counting. With the community’s feedback, we’re constantly making Elite Dangerous better than ever. We have incredible long-term ambition and we will continue to deliver on those ambitions. We will detail more exciting developments for Horizons very soon.”
Back at launch, the title supported the Oculus Rift’s second development kit (DK2). However, as 2015 came to a close Oculus VR started to release regular updates to the HMD’s software development kit (SDK) which also removed support for titles made on older versions of the kit. It remains to be seen if the developer will be able to add in support for the latest SDK and the consumer Oculus Rift along with it. That said, Frontier Developments is pushing forward with VR support in the form of SteamVR compatibility, which arrived as part of last December’s update.
For the latest on Elite: Dangerous, keep reading VRFocus.
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