Frontier still "working hard" on Outsider

By Robert Purchese Published 19 April, 2010

"Watch this space," says Braben.

LostWinds developer Frontier Developments has promised that ambitious "next-gen" game The Outsider hasn't been thrown in the bin.

"It's very exciting and we're still working hard on it," studio boss David Braben told Eurogamer. "I'm not talking about it yet but watch this space."

Braben hasn't talked properly about The Outsider since 2005, when the game was announced. Back then we heard promises of "genuine freedom" inside a "gripping, high-tech thriller" where the player, a CIA operative, is wrongly turned into Public Enemy Number One. The choice of how to proceed from their was to be entirely yours.

Two years after the game's announcement, all Braben had to tell us was that work was "going very well, thanks".

Of course, Braben has been busy making acclaimed WiiWare game LostWinds and now LostWinds 2. But that won't keep the staff of around 200 busy all day, every day, will it?

The Outsider was in development for "new consoles", which back at announcement were PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Bitkari #1 2 years ago

    inb4 "what about elite!?"

  • ZuluHero #2 2 years ago

    "The choice of how to proceed from their was to be entirely yours."

    Bet I can't take off in an Imperial Courier fitted with a class 2 military drive, hyperspace cloud analyser, a hyperspace jammer, and hyperspace once i leave the planet's atmosphere to begin my life as a deep space pirate, terrorising shipping lanes :(

    EDIT: Curse you Bitkari! :)
    Edited by ZuluHero at 19/04/10 @ 10:56

  • TheToadReturns #3 2 years ago

    Used to work at Frontier and have a fair few mates there still.

    I predict The Outsider will be an outdated mess when it eventually comes out and won't recoup half its development costs.

  • yupyup #4 2 years ago

    Vapourware.

  • Nazo #5 2 years ago

    "The choice of how to proceed from their was to be entirely yours."
    "There" not "their".

    Good to hear it's still in development. I'd rather have an update to Elite though, are they working on one or did I dream that?

  • Octoroc #6 2 years ago

    What about Elite?

  • KujiGhost #7 2 years ago

    I'd happily take Elite:Frontier as it is with nothing more than a spit and polish: just image if it could look as silky smooth as Rez:HD!
    Edited by KujiGhost at 19/04/10 @ 11:26

  • GamesConnoisseur #8 2 years ago

    Outsider sounds like latest Splinter Cell!

    Yup Elite please!

  • levitate #9 2 years ago

    A new Elite please.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #10 2 years ago

    The Outsider sounded awesome when I read about it in Edge all those years ago. I can imagine it being a let-down when finally released, sadly, just as it's taking so long.

    Hopefully not, of course - just kinda wonder what the hold-up is.

  • KDR_11k #11 2 years ago

    I'm kinda sick of the old falsely accused plot device, I'd much rather play as a character who was rightfully imprisoned or declared a traitor and then proceeds to make people regret they weren't effective enough at locking him up.

  • Eraysor #12 2 years ago

    Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 please!

  • Tomo #13 2 years ago

    Had forgotten all about this. It sounds wonderful, so glad they're still working on it. Fingers crossed!

  • barkertron #14 2 years ago

    I'd like to add a few words to the several 'what about Elite?' posts that are already here. Those words are: "What", "About" and "Elite." I would also like to know when Elite is coming out, and whether there is a release date for Elite. Information on when we might expect to see Elite would also be a bonus; failing that, some info on when Elite will be in the shops will do just fine.

  • mingster #15 2 years ago

    Just cancel whatever you are working on and do Elite.
    You have a known IP that would make you millions.
    You will go bust wasting your time and money on Outsider it will not sell.

  • comissars_handgun #16 2 years ago

    Shit I forgot about this game, from the descriptions way back it sounds like basically my dream game. I've always wanted an openworld game where your actions have proper consequences- so I really liked it when I heard that in this you can manipulate crime scenes to throw off the cops, rather than the cops forgetting about you when you are out of sight, GTA style.

    But I have kind of given up hope of it being any good/ever coming out it's been so long in development.

  • Stuz359 #17 2 years ago

    I completely forgot about this to be honest, just like Alan Wake and Duke Nukem Forever.

    I suppose the nice thing is that projects like Lost Winds keep the revenue flow coming in while giving members of staff a chance to flex their creative muscles until this is finished.

  • MaxiSleep #18 2 years ago

    E
    L
    I
    T
    E

  • jefranklin18 #19 2 years ago

    I gave up faith in seeing Elite 4 at all a long time ago. It has been in and out of development since 2000 or so, and Frontier's reluctance to actually give any realistic updates about it other than "we are still working on it" is really not confidence inspiring. It is a pity as I still occasionally play FFE.

    As for the Outsider, I was initially interested but it too has been too long between meaningful updates. It will take something to really stand out for me to get it. I suspect the crowd dynamics model that they have developed will be insufficient ;)

    I guess it will continue to be WiiWare for the time being from them.
    Edited by jefranklin18 at 19/04/10 @ 13:21

  • glaeken #20 2 years ago

    5 years in development and no-one has seen anything real of the game yet? That does not sound at all troubling.

    It is puzzling that they own the Elite license but don't seem to want to do anything with it. I can only imagine how great a modern Elite could be given the power available now even on the consoles it could be immense.

  • darleysam #21 2 years ago

    I'm still hoping this comes out as it sounds awesome. I'm also genetically obligated to ask for Elite 4.

    And a job, if one's still going in the writing department.

  • metalnut #22 2 years ago

    "I can only imagine how great a modern Elite could be given the power available now even on the consoles it could be immense."

    This is half of the problem. The original games generated most of their data and that was fine because they could be simplistic visually. People just won't go for that these days, they expect AAA quality all within a procedural system, which is non-trivial.

    The other half is where do you go with it? Aside from just doing Elite all over again with a graphics revamp and online play - which would be welcomed by the fans no doubt, but in the grand scheme of things there aren't *that* many of you, and I don't think Braben has much appetite for that. I spoke to him at GDC in 2004 about it and he's clearly only interested in revisiting Elite if he can bring something genuinely new to it, like getting out of your craft and exploring space stations etc. But again in a procedural content world that's hard to get right and unless you get it spot-on you'll alienate the very people that loved Elite, without attracting any new people. It's a toughie.

    [edit]That said, I don't know why they don't release a digitally distributed re-make - Elite or Frontier as exactly the same games but with a slight graphical vamp - and just cash in on that. Fans would be happy with that and as a cheaper downloadable game you have less to prove and don't have to try to make a genuine sequel (with all the expectations that brings).
    Edited by metalnut at 19/04/10 @ 13:47

  • special_move #23 2 years ago

    I'm guessing my the time Elite 4 comes out we'll all be flying around in space ships anyway and then no one will care.

  • zedzee #24 2 years ago

    E - L - I - T - E

    For PSP, please!

  • glaeken #25 2 years ago

    @metalnut

    It would certainly be a big project to do it properly but what else are they doing? this Outsider game sounds great but has all the hall marks of a game that’s never going to actually appear. I can understand Braben wanting to do something new but I do believe there would be a market for an updated Elite and I can think of tons of ways to extend the basic formula and its not like there is a lot of competition in this area. So I guess I am saying let the license go if you don’t want to do anything with it as I am sure the license/brand itself has some value. Of course that might result in some cheap cash in but I would rather risk that then just see the brand never updated.

  • swisstony #26 2 years ago

    The thing they'd have to do with Elite 4 is rip X3 a new one. That isn't easy as those guys have a big community, modders galore and all the attendant feedback and balancing that goes with a few releases on fairly modern hardware.

  • Teho #27 2 years ago

    Braben and Frontier Developments looked at doing Elite 4 at one point, had very specific ideas about what they wanted to do with it and decided to wait until the technololgy to do it was ready. Last word from him on it was that it will very probably be out this generation, and that they will in fact start develoment once The Outsider is over and done with. It's all in the Wikipedia article on Elite 4, with references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_4#Dev...

  • TheBoyChris #28 2 years ago

    Elite.

    That is all.

  • Acrid #29 2 years ago

    @TheToad Returns
    "Used to work at Frontier and have a fair few mates there still.

    I predict The Outsider will be an outdated mess when it eventually comes out and won't recoup half its development costs. "

    Are you sure they're still your mates? It doesn't sound like it does it. You never really worked at Frontier did you. You're just trying to use the Big Boy voice. It didn't work. :'-(

  • the_mtfr #30 2 years ago

    I only wanna know if Chris Sawyer (almighty god of Transport Tycoon) is working in Frontier now. Anyway I'm interested in anything Frontier makes for my PC. Without DRM that is :p (just an old school cd-key).

  • Stop-gap #31 2 years ago

    I guarantee this comments section is at least 50% "So Mr Braben, where's more Frontier?", which begs the question:
    Where the hell IS more Frontier? Eh?

    /hammers away on the mouse just under the jettison button. Now has plenty of extra space to fill with soon-to-be-ex-slaves.

  • TheToadReturns #32 2 years ago

    "Are you sure they're still your mates? It doesn't sound like it does it. You never really worked at Frontier did you. You're just trying to use the Big Boy voice. It didn't work. :'-( "

    That's right I made it up. You heard me I made it all up!

    Good grief.

  • Red-Moose #33 2 years ago

    The Outsider sounds a little like that revolution game by Bullfrog. Perhaps this is what happens to development companies as they mature: the game becomes too abstract, too costly to develop and is ultimately cut down into a bite sized chunk of oddness that no one buys.

  • Tehren #34 2 years ago

    Elite, now.

  • Kaminari #35 2 years ago

    There are dudes like Richard Garriott who are billionaires.

    And there are dudes like David Braben who should be billionaires.

  • Distributor #36 2 years ago

    The Outsider or Elite 4? well i can wait. BUT the real question is who the hell is funding Frontier?
    Making games without even screenshots or teasers or anything? Id be real sceptical.

  • Fitzmogwai #37 2 years ago

    I'm really interested in The Outsider getting released, and as soon as possible.

    That's purely because I Braben said in an interview a few years ago that they'd only start developing Elite 4 once The Outsider was finished. The usual nonsense about "The technology not being ready" or somesuch.

    So come on Frontier. Get The Outsider out of the door. Hell, just burn whatever shit you've got at the moment on to a DVD and sell it. Then get to work on Elite 4.

  • spud71 #38 2 years ago

    I am not being funny; but I think Elite was a crap game !! Star Wars Arcade played much better.

  • WJF #39 2 years ago

    'I am not being funny; but I think Elite was a crap game !! Star Wars Arcade played much better.'

    No.

  • Scoops #40 2 years ago

    I would love a proper follow up to Elite or Frontier as much as the next one but where do you go with it? There are already loads of Elite-like titles from Oolite to Eve Online. It is hard to see where it would fit in though. Maybe A GTA in space is what we need??

  • Soton4084 #41 2 years ago

    Elite on PS3/360 please!

  • ant72 #42 2 years ago

    I have teleported a few months into the future, and STILL nothing.