Elite Dangerous confirmed for Xbox One (UPDATE: And PS4)

Ambitious space sim Elite Dangerous is finally on the way to consoles.

The game has been available for PC in an assortment of states for a while, but was officially released on PC in December. The same galaxy state will be shared across PC, Mac and Xbox One, although Frontier has added that players on one platform may not necessarily be able to interact with those on another.

Frontier has an existing relationship with Microsoft, having made a string of Xbox titles including Kinectimals, Kinect Disney Land Adventures, Zoo Tycoon and ScreamRide (which hits Xbox One tomorrow).

When asked, I’ve said we’d be mad not to consider bringing Elite: Dangerous to console,” Frontier boss David Braben said, referencing comments made last summer. Well, that madness is about to end.

Today we’re announcing that we will be bringing the full Elite: Dangerous to Xbox One this year. Xbox players have supported Frontier well over the years, so Xbox One is a natural fit for Elite: Dangerous’ console debut.”

Braben has also promised that the game, which is best played with a flight stick and keyboard on PC, will not be partied back for consoles.

Elite: Dangerous on Xbox One will be the complete and authentic Elite: Dangerous experience. It will not be ‘dumbed down’,” he added. We’ll be working with an all-new audience, but that doesn’t mean a change in direction for the game, and nor does it mean slowing development on the PC version.

More players across more formats means we can devote more resources to development. The more players we have, the better the game will become. Elite: Dangerous is a living game and it will keep growing on all our formats so long as people are excited to play it.”

UPDATE:Videogamer spotted an additional post on the Frontier forums where the studio confirmed that a PS4 release for the game could follow at a later date.

"Console debut in 2015 on Xbox One," it said. "We will be able to bring it to other platforms later and we’ll talk about that when we have something to announce."

UPDATE 2: Braben has now confirmed that the Xbox One release is a timed console exclusive.

@smallfaraway_ Sure. Mac of course, then down the line we will support more, including PS4. The XB1 is a timed exclusive.

— David Braben (@DavidBraben) March 5, 2015