Elite Dangerous: Odyssey launches today on PC after an 11 hour-long maintenance

Today is the day that Commanders in Elite: Dangerous can climb out of their spaceships, stretch their space legs, and gain feeling in their space butts again. The Odyssey expansion is releasing today on PC, though it will do so after an estimated 11 hour maintenance window that started at 3:00 a.m. EDT today.

As alluded to in the lede, Odyssey is all about adding on-foot gameplay elements to E:D, with space stations to walk around that feature mission-granting NPCs and vendors that sell combat suits, FPS weapons, and other items; an exobiology gameplay loop that sees players scanning plantlife on planets; on-foot missions that span from simple deliveries to base restoration or shutdown; and combat zones that feature a point capture gameplay mode when systems are at war. The Odyssey expansion also introduces some new planetary tech for more visually dynamic planet surfaces and various atmospheres in some cases.

The run-up to launch has been full of some additional details such as word that instancing for Odyssey owners and Horizons owners will be split until the expansion arrives to consoles, as well as some new system specs for players to possibly consider. There is also, of course, a new trailer to take in below, and make sure to check out prior coverage of the game’s alpha phases.

Elite Dangerous Odyssey impressions

Stick and Rudder: Phase 4 impressions and overall thoughts on Elite Dangerous’ Odyssey expansion

Stick and Rudder: The frustrating and unsuccessful search for life in Elite Dangerous Odyssey alpha phase 3

Stick and Rudder: Elite Dangerous Odyssey’s second alpha phase had more FPS goodness and even more bugs

Stick and Rudder: Shaky space legs and promising potential in Elite Dangerous’ Odyssey alpha phase one