Earlier this morning, Frontier Developments released the Mac version of Elite: Dangerous to the public after about a month-and-a-half of semi-closed beta (players who had paid to participate in the game’s Alpha and Beta tests, along with Kickstarter backers, were allowed to test the Mac beta starting on its initial March 31 release). Customers who purchased Elite: Dangerous on Steam will automatically have the Mac version added to their accounts; direct customers will need to download the Mac launcher from Frontier to install the Mac version.

Earlier Mac beta versions also required the installation of the Mono framework in order to properly install and launch; the release version also appears to have this requirement.

The Mac version has undergone extensive port work, with the core rendering engine adapted fully to OpenGL. Although Elite: Dangerous will next see release on Xbox One, creator and lead designer David Braben remains cautiously optimistic that the game will also eventually be released for Linux.

Unlike the Xbox One version, players of Mac Elite: Dangerous will be able to fly alongside Windows players, occupying the same instances and sharing the same sky. Console players will exist in the same galactic simulation but, at least at release, will be unable to see PC players; Frontier says this is because the longer patch approval time on the Xbox means that there won’t always be a way to guarantee that console and PC players will be using the same client versions of the game.

Unfortunately, two significant things the Mac version currently lacks are support for head tracking or the Oculus Rift; we’ve asked Frontier when these features will be introduced and will update if we hear back.

Update: Frontier responded to our question this morning, and at least for now, head tracking and Rift support will not be included in the Mac release. We'll be able to get some more detailed information about the direction and future plans for Elite: Dangerous next month at E3.