The space MMO Elite Dangerous has caused a stir in the virtual reality scene with an announcement.
2016 is set to be the year of virtual reality. Various systems are positioning themselves. In addition to Oculus Rift and Playstation VR, SteamVR is also in the race. Potential buyers are closely watching the market. Nobody wants to buy a system that is inferior and may go under, like in the “VHS-Video 2000” format war or with later editions in the console war. The older ones will remember.
Last week, eurogamer reported that Frontier, the developers behind Elite: Dangerous, are focusing on Steam’s VR solution. They have switched from Oculus Rift to Valve’s solution as the preferred VR platform, as Valve has released more stable drivers than Oculus.
According to Frontier, Elite Dangerous is likely the leading game that is set to support virtual reality right from the start. They want to offer players the best VR experience, which means they will focus on one solution. And for the best solution, they have chosen SteamVR. However, this is not an exclusive deal, as they are also working on supporting Oculus Rift.
In the ears of Oculus Rift fans, this sounded alarmingly like a pre-decision. Especially when other sites picked up the report with the perspective “Steam VR is better than Oculus Rift, says Frontier”.
To dispel such impressions, Frontier has once again stated that they are actively working with Oculus to find a solution.
Mein MMO says: From the outside, it seems like there is a lot of strategy at play. It is already known that Oculus Rift has a deal with EVE: Valkyrie and will launch in a bundle with the space game. This might have played a role in the tactical considerations for Elite: Dangerous. While Elite and EVE: Valkyrie are not really in direct competition, perhaps Frontier fears they might only play second fiddle in the virtual space for Oculus Rift.
