Elite Dangerous Odyssey is released on PC on May 19.

Elite Dangerous Odyssey is released on PC on May 19, bringing with it the first chance for many commanders to leave their ships on foot in the years since the release of the space MMO. Exploring the surface of planets, completing missions, or just hanging out inside stations that players have been visiting for some time now brings a whole new level to the game, although Alpha hasn’t been without its fair share of bumps along the way.

Ahead of the Odyssey launch next week, Frontier talked about the PC player base and how the Elite Dangerous Odyssey and Horizons versions will essentially be separated from each other. In a post on the Elite Dangerous forums, Frontier community manager Bruce Gee gave a glimpse of how the shared galaxy will work once Elite Dangerous Odyssey is released on May 19. Essentially, this shared galaxy won’t be available to players who haven’t upgraded to Odyssey from Horizons, at least until the console versions are released.

“All Elite Dangerous: Odyssey players will get access to new features, including planetary upgrades, improved lighting, and textures. The differences will mean that Elite Dangerous: Horizons players will not be able to share a game session with those who play Odyssey. However, Odyssey owners will be able to share the session and play with those in Horizons by running the game in Horizons mode, although if they do, they will temporarily not have access to the new Odyssey features.”

Those who play on Pc and want to explore the Milky Way with friends who have yet to upgrade to Odyssey will essentially have to install two clients and lose the graphical updates, features, and more that come with Odyssey. After all, customers will be one of them when the console releases later this year, with Bruce stating that the universe will once again be available for free to Horizons players, although if they don’t have the Odyssey, they won’t be able to get out of their ships.

“In line with the console launch, we plan to update Elite Dangerous on all platforms (PC/PlayStation/Xbox) so that Odyssey and Horizons players can reunite and play alongside other users on their respective platform.All Horizons players will also receive new graphics upgrades, including new planetary technology, lighting, and organic, for free, but will not be able to walk out or enter the rarefied atmosphere of Odyssey.”