Elite Dangerous players will finally be able to get out of their vehicles and wander other worlds this year.

Frontier has, understandably, been affected by the ongoing pandemic. As a UK studio, we are dealing with new closures and this has naturally affected our development schedule.

"While our PC plans have been only slightly affected, our plans for console releases will unfortunately see a larger development shift," Frontier said in an announcement today. Frontier said today, "This difficult decision was made to respect a realistic project deadline for our team in this difficult global climate, while focusing on making 'Odyssey' as great as possible for all commanders, regardless of platform We hope you understand that this is a very important decision."

Alpha access for PC players is still forthcoming, but is currently scheduled for early spring.Elite Dangerous: Players with the Odyssey Deluxe Alpha and Lifetime Expansion Pass will have access to the alpha, become Elite's first on-site frontier explorers.

"As with the first Elite Dangerous release, we will be taking a phased approach to the alpha, bringing new features and systems online throughout the duration. As we get closer to release, we will provide more information on additional features and plans for the alpha version."

The full release of the PC version is scheduled for late spring 2021, but console players will have to wait until the fall. For more information on the new expansion, read Andy Kelly's Elite Dangerous: Odyssey preview.