In the beginning of August, Elite: Dangerous detailed the code merging happening for PC players, which would effectively move PC pilots to a version 4.0 and leave console players in version 3.8 as console enters maintenance mode. That split has been elaborated upon in the game’s forums, which notes that in addition to that expected split between PC and console, PC players will further be split between Horizons and Odyssey.
The clarification came as a result of questions about whether all PC players in version 4.0 could play the game together, which brought on the following quote from E:D’s senior community manager:
“When the option to launch in 4.0 is made available to all PC players, instancing will be separate between 3.8 and 4.0 (as it has always been) and separate between Horizons and Odyssey on 4.0. There’s no final state to confirm in situations like this which are always open to re-evaluation. If the situation changes, we’ll make an announcement to that effect.”
As one might expect, this news was met with some dejected replies on the discussion thread, with many calling out earlier promises and worries that another split will make finding wings or CQC matches harder. Discussion has gotten to the point that one of the CMs said a new thread regarding these concerns was going to be started soon.
The related Discovery Scanner news bulletin later added this clarification while also pointing out that PC players would get an opportunity to try 4.0’s codebase out soon. Just know that if you are primarily on PC, you’re going to have to coordinate with everyone just a bit more as the playerbase is now effectively being split into thirds.
