14 DAY TRIAL // Spacefaring game Elite: Dangerous is confirmed to come out for PC and Mac for now, but judging by developer Frontier head David Braben, there's also a possibility that the game will show up on consoles one day.
During the Develop conference last week, he indicated that Elite would one day come to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One computer entertainment systems, trying his hardest not to make it sound like an announcement.
"I've just got to watch out, I don't want to do something that constitutes an announcement, but we would be stupid not to support other platforms, including console," Braben told Eurogamer.
Elite: Dangerous is built on the same engine used to create Zoo Tycoon, one of the Xbox One's launch lineup titles. The company has also developed a number of first-party Microsoft and Sony games over the years, so the technical know-how is there, just waiting to be tapped into.
Braben also mentioned that he was convinced of the fact that both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One were capable of running Elite: Dangerous and delivering the proper, intended experience.
"We've done lots and lots of games over time. We've done first-party Sony games. We've done first party Microsoft games. On console. So yes, we'd be stupid not to think about it. But the point is, we're very focused on delivering a great PC game. We will then do the game on Mac and during that time we will be looking at other platforms as well," Braben said.
Elite: Dangerous is being built with support for the virtual-reality headset from Oculus VR, the Oculus Rift, and Braben pointed to the fact that the PlayStation 4 was getting its own VR device, in the form of Project Morpheus.
For now, the company is focused on implementing a lot of controls into the game, so that the player has the final say intro what's coming out. Braben said that they were experimenting with some "wonderful" effects internally, and that they didn't mind the fact that they slowed down the frame rate, because they looked beautiful, but that their end goal was to allow the players to make whichever decisions suited them best, in the end.
"We're a public company and announcements have to be properly made. But it's obviously something we're bearing in mind," he concluded.
While Elite: Dangerous is unlikely to launch on either the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One anytime soon, there is definitely a chance of the game making it over during the course of 2015. The title is due out before the end of the year, and its beta test is kicking off at the end of July. The Mac version of Elite: Dangerous was promised to become available about three months after the Windows PC launch.