Jurassic World Evolution 2 sales aren't great and Elite Dangerous: Odyssey under-performed, developer Frontier has said.

In a trading update, the Cambridge-based company said sales of Jurassic World Evolution 2 were "lower than expected" on the PC platform specifically. Frontier believes this is the "short-term effect" of a crowded release window, with a number of other highly-anticipated PC games launching in the same window.

Jurassic World Evolution 2 launched on 9th November, which, it turned out, was the same week Sports Interactive's Football Manager 2022, Playground's Forza Horizon 5, Rockstar's GTA Trilogy and Bethesda's Skyrim: Anniversary Edition came out.

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Frontier Developments has delayed Elite Dangerous' Odyssey update on consoles indefinitely to focus on fixing the PC version.

In a post on the Frontier forum, chief David Braben said the studio accepts the "frustration" players have had with the Odyssey expansion since it came out in May.

Odyssey, which finally gives players the much-requested ability to step outside their ships and stroll around the galaxy in first-person, was lambasted by players when it launched, quickly accruing a 'Mostly Negative' rating on Steam as purchasers highlighted performance issues, server outages, and a heap of bugs - despite Frontier having held a month-long paid alpha prior to launch, ostensibly to fix any glaring problems ahead of release.

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Frontier has released a second major update for space sim Elite Dangerous' poorly received Odyssey expansion, bringing a raft of much-needed improvements, ranging from UI enhancements and graphics optimisations to AI tweaks and many, many bug fixes.

Odyssey, which finally gives players the much-requested ability to step outside their ships and stroll around the galaxy in first-person, was lambasted by players when it launched last month, quickly accruing a 'Mostly Negative' rating on Steam as purchasers highlighted performance issues, server outages, and a heap of bugs - despite Frontier having held a month-long paid alpha prior to launch, ostensibly to fix any glaring problems ahead of release.

As the negative reviews continued, Frontier Developments boss David Braben stepped in, releasing a statement apologising "to those who have been suffering from these problems" and insisting that addressing Odyssey's myriad reported issues was the studio's "priority and focus."

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Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's alpha has entered its fourth and final phase, meaning players now have access to all their hard-earned toys from the main game - and will continue to do so until the alpha wraps up on its new, later end date of 5th May.

More specifically, phase four of the Odyssey alpha integrates a recent snapshot of Elite Dangerous' base game - taken on 23rd April - so that participants can make use of any Commanders, ships, ship customisations, fighters, SRVs, and so on acquired up to that point. And to ensure players are able to spend more time doing space stuff and less time waiting for their belongings to worm their way from wherever in the galaxy they were left in the main game, Frontier is reducing transportation times and transportation costs for the alpha.

Additionally, a number of core gameplay features not previously available in the alpha are now live and accessible in phase four, meaning players will get the clearest indication yet of just how impactful Odyssey's additions - primarily focussed on on-foot traversal and first-person gunplay - might be on the existing space sim experience.

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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.

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Microsoft has announced new games coming to Xbox Game Pass during the remainder of February.

On 18th February, Bandai Namco's action role-playing game Code Vein hits Xbox Game Pass for PC. Also out on that day is Obsidian's RPG Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - Ultimate Edition on console and the cloud, and Bugbear's car smash 'em-up Wreckfest on console, PC and cloud.

Moving on, on 23rd February team platformer Killer Queen Black hits Game Pass on console and cloud.

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So far Frontier has talked a lot about combat in Elite Dangerous' upcoming Odyssey expansion, but not so much about how it'll affect other activities out among the stars. That's changed a little now though, with the developer outlining a few of the ways another of the space sim's core disciplines - exploration - will be affected come launch day.

The most immediate change to exploration will come in the number of landable planets available in Odyssey, with Frontier anticipating around a 20% increase based on its own tests in a limited number of regions. Scale that out to Elite Dangerous' entire procedural galaxy, however, and the number of traversable worlds will increase to "billions".

Notably, however, not all planets will be fit for disembarkation. Frontier confirms players won't be able to leave their ship to go a-wandering if the temperature and gravity of the environment outside is so extreme as to be completely unsurvivable.

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Frontier has delayed Elite Dangerous: Odyssey due to coronavirus.

In a note to players of the space game, Frontier said the impact of the ongoing lockdown had affected its development schedule, pushing back the much-anticipated Odyssey expansion.

Frontier had planned to release Elite Dangerous: Odyssey across PC and console early 2021. The PC release is now slated for late spring 2021, with the console release pushed back to autumn 2021.

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Elite Dangerous' highly anticipated Odyssey expansion isn't too far away now, and developer Frontier is continuing its pre-launch promotional blitz with a new developer video, this time showcasing the kind of combat Commanders will be able to experience when they finally receive their space-legs early next year.

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.

This, as Frontier explains in its latest video, necessitates a bit of a mentality shift when it comes to combat, with players needing to develop a whole new set of skills as they make the jump from "bold, daring star pilot to vulnerable on-foot troop".

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Could you preside over an 18th Century French courtroom or zip around the vast reaches of space in reality? Probably not! Handily, then, the Humble Super Simulation Bundle is here to enable you to do all those things and more for just £11.

Humble's latest collection of cheap games is all about recreating real-world experiences without having to step away from your desktop. Some of these seem a lot more enticing than others, but if you're looking to try something new then you've got some great choices here. I think the only glaring omission is House Flipper, which would have really rounded out the bundle.

Still, both spacefaring adventure Elite Dangerous and desktop tinkerer PC Building Sim are the highlights here. The timing is pretty good for the latter, as picking it up could be a much cheaper way of constructing your dream rig featuring the new Nvidia 3000 series GPUs and running Crysis at a bajillion frames per second.

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