If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Elite Dangerous' Odyssey expansion opens playable PC alpha later this month

Plus there's a new eight-minute gameplay video.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, the new on-foot-focussed expansion for developer Frontier's long-running space sim, will be opening its doors to the paying public on 29th March, when its playable alpha gets underway for Commanders on PC.

Players wishing to take part in the alpha will need to have pre-ordered Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's Deluxe Alpha edition, priced at £39.99 - which is £10 more than the standard edition if you're wondering how much you'll be paying for the privilege (and an OST).

To accompany the news, Frontier has released a new trailer showing off gameplay from the alpha build of Odyssey. Here, three players team up to complete an on-foot raid of a military outpost in order to disable its power and hinder the opposing faction.

Cover image for YouTube videoElite Dangerous: Odyssey | The Road to Odyssey - PRE ALPHA: Mission Playthrough
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey - Mission Playthrough.

"All three Commanders in the incursion team are specially equipped for their assigned role," explains Frontier. "Their tactical gear grants them an edge in their assigned tasks, whether it is to infiltrate the base avoiding detection, lay down covering fire if the alarm is raised, hacking, or quickly extract their teammates from a tight spot if enemy forces overwhelm them."

Come the arrival of Odyssey, players will, for the first time, be able to leave the confines of their space vessels and stroll about Elite Dangerous' vast galaxy on-foot - exploring everything from shiny space stations to dusty desert outposts in first-person, completing combat missions, and more. Frontier says the expansion will increase the number of landable planets in Elite: Dangerous by around 20%, equalling "billions" of traversable worlds.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will, following a coronavirus-related delay, get its full PC release in "late spring" this year. PS4 and Xbox One versions are now expected in autumn.