With the newly announced HTC Vive VR platform scheduled to appear in 2016, albeit in limited quantities; it makes it clear that Elite: Dangerous plans to expand it’s limited support for various VR technologies. Frontier has previously offered some support for Oculus Rift, and with the inclusion of the Vive in a free SteamVR update to Elite, it seems like a reasonable choice. Said update is scheduled for “Holiday 2015”. The attempts by game devs to unify the fragmented VR space are definitely having a positive effect for the future of VR technology.
Elite is definitely a title suited to VR. As the concerns over limited FOV and motion sickness become less of an issue as the tech improves, it’s logical to assume Frontier will add support for an expanded library of VR platforms in the coming years. And judging by their comments on the subject, they plan to put the knowledge they’ve gained into practice improving Elite.
“Starting early with VR has been a tremendous advantage,” Frontier communications manager Michael Gapper told Ars in an e-mail conversation this morning. “We’ve been working with VR since December 2013 and tweaking the experience throughout. We’ve learned a lot, not just about the technology but about best practice for design.”
The full recent newsletter #91 for Elite can be found here.
