Planet Coaster and Elite: Dangerous Getting Physical Releases

Frontier Developments has teamed up with Sold Out to bring its two self-published projects, Planet Coaster and Elite: Dangerous, to retail.

Of the two, Planet Coaster will release first, with the physical PC version arriving in stores on May 23, though Sold Out has not announced what will be included in the boxed edition of the game. Given the recent release of the ‘Spring Update’, however, fans should expect that update to appear as standard.

Given the dominance of digital distribution in the PC market, this move may seem ill-considered, but Sold Out’s CEO Garry Williams recently spoke to GamesIndustry.biz, explaining why the company helps developers to bring their projects to market:

“Quality games will sell whatever the distribution method. Rocket League would look rather silly if they had stayed digital-only and missed the recently announced 1 million boxed sales . . . [W]ith genre-defining products such as these, the demand has always been there, and we’re delighted to help Frontier meet the customer on their terms, however and wherever they cho[o]se to buy.”

Meanwhile, Elite: Dangerous will arrive at retail for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at an undisclosed date later in the year. Despite the ambiguity of the launch date, Sold Out has confirmed that Elite Dangerous: Legendary Edition, as the physical version is known, will feature the ‘Horizons’ expansion and 1,000 Frontier points, which are used to buy in-game items.

Frontier Developments is only the most recent team to sign up with Sold Out, as the company has also worked with Rebellion for Sniper Elite III and Sniper Elite 4, and Team17 for Yooka-Laylee.

Elite: Dangerous originally released in 2014 with an Xbox One Game Preview Program version launched the following year. Planet Coaster released late last year, and OnlySP scored it with a Credit in our recent review.

Although Frontier Developments is continuing to work on both Elite: Dangerous and Planet Coaster, the team is also reportedly working on a new game set in an established movie universe.

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