'Elite: Dangerous' Release Date News: Game Xbox One Exclusive; New Version Arriving Summer 2015

Virginia D'Cruz Friday, March 06, 2015

In a major move, head of Microsoft Xbox division Phil Spencer has announced that the massively multiplayer online game "Elite: Dangerous" would come exclusively to the console. Speaking at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Spencer said a new version of the game would arrive on the X-Box One sometime during summer.

Included in the version coming to the Xbox One will be all the content released for PCs in December last year, add-on content and also the March Wings expansion which was just announced by Frontier Developments. However, The Guardian said right now there are no indications yet that players using the Xbox One and those using the PC version will end up fighting each other or working together in the game.

David Braben, the creator of the game from Frontier Developments, said the decision to bring the game exclusively to Xbox One was difficult for the company. However, he added that since the company has partnered with Microsoft previously on the Zoo Tycoon launch on Xbox One, it was a logical choice for them. Braben said the fact that the Xbox One was selling well since the console's price was reduced provides an exciting opportunity to forge a partnership.

Braben assured gamers in a blog post on the company website that the version to be released on the Xbox One will be "the complete and authentic Elite: Dangerous experience." For those who currently play the PC version of the game, he reassured that the "direction of the game would not change and development of the PC version will not slow down."

"Elite: Dangerous" is set in a universe comprised of 400 billion stars and their planets all of which can be explored. Our own Milky Way Galaxy provides the inspiration for 150,000 of the star systems offered, including actual astronomical data. In the game, players get to explore worlds as legal or illegal traders, buy and sell goods, visit space stations and indulge in a variety of sci-fi fantasies.