Earlier today Frontier published a post about their delivery plans for Odyssey alpha access and release dates – and once again we queue for the waiting line…

The recent dev diaries had a steady pace of giving us glimpses into the upcoming features which hinted to a steady cadence of hype and incoming news about the upcoming expansion. However, it looks like 2020 had a bigger impact on Frontier development progress than they initially thought.

The ongoing impact of the pandemic however, including the renewed lockdowns in 2021, continues to put added pressure on our teams and ultimately our development timeline. We have therefore had to make the difficult decision to make some adjustments and changes to our existing development roadmap.

PC players can expect a smaller delay with Alpha access available somewhere in early spring 2021. As with the original Elite Dangerous release, Odyssey alpha will also be taking place in multiple phases giving Frontier a chance to better test smaller, more focused features as they become available to players over time. Only Odyssey Deluxe Alpha and Lifetime Expansion Pass holders will get access to this release.

Once the Alpha phase ends, Frontier plans to release the PC version of Odyssey somewhere in late spring 2021. This is probably where real bugfixing will start as Frontier promises to closely engage with the community and react to feedback. All Odyssey pre orders will be able to access the game at this point.

Unfortunately, console owners will have to wait until autumn 2021.

We understand that for many, this additional delay will be frustrating. Once again, we would like to apologise wholeheartedly to our community, especially our console Commanders. However, as mentioned previously, we feel it is vital to ensure that the content being released on consoles meets the highest standards and this will require this additional extension to our roadmap.

During the delay, Frontier still plans to continue posting more news, videos and content of the development in progress.

Check out the full announcement here.