Elite Dangerous is a computer game created by Frontier Developments. It allows players to control a spaceship in a realistic, open-world version of the Milky Way galaxy. The game offers exploration, trading, and space battles. Players can visit a galaxy with about 400 billion star systems, which are automatically generated by the game. This system lets players land on planets with little or no atmosphere. Many planets have unique plants, animals, and places where humans or aliens live.
Elite Dangerous is the fourth game in the Elite series and follows Frontier: First Encounters (1995). It is the first game in the series to include many players playing together online, first-person gameplay on the ground, and the ability to colonize star systems. Player actions influence the ongoing story of the game’s universe, while still offering a single-player experience.
In November 2012, Frontier started a Kickstarter campaign to test the game’s idea, check interest, and raise money. The game was released for Windows in December 2014, macOS in May 2015, Xbox One in October 2015, and PlayStation 4 in June 2017. It works with most virtual reality headsets on Windows. David Braben led the game’s development until August 2022.
The game has received many free updates over the years. Two paid expansions were released: Horizons (December 15, 2015) and Odyssey (May 18, 2021). Horizons added features like landing on planets without atmospheres, a vehicle for exploring surfaces, and new types of ships. Horizons became free with the base game in October 2020. Odyssey added the ability to land on planets with thin atmospheres, new settlements, tools for exploring on foot, and new activities like mercenary work and studying alien life. By September 2022, the game had sold more than 4.8 million copies.
Gameplay
Elite Dangerous combines elements from space simulators, first-person shooters, and massively multiplayer online games. The game is set in a galaxy that mirrors the Milky Way and includes three game modes: Solo (single player), Private Group (with friends or invited players), and Open Play (with all players).
When Elite Dangerous was released in 2014, the game’s story began in the year 3300, which is 1,286 years ahead of our time but synchronized with the current time (UTC). The game takes place about 45 years after the original Frontier: First Encounters. Players start with a spaceship and a small amount of money in a large, open galaxy. They earn more money (called credits) and merit by completing activities like trading, mining, exploration, or combat. A major change in the game is the addition of first-person gameplay, introduced with the Odyssey expansion in 2021. This allows players to explore planets, collect alien samples, or fight enemies in first-person mode. Other activities include trading, mining, exploration, exobiology, passenger transport, smuggling, bounty hunting, piracy, and assassination. Players can also interact with others in first-person mode at space stations or planetary settlements.
A new feature called System Colonization, added with the Odyssey expansion, lets players claim uninhabited star systems, build colonies, and shape their economies. This feature was released as a free beta update in February 2025 and fully launched in November 2025.
Elite Dangerous is the first game in the series to include online multiplayer. Players can join Open Play, where they can take actions that might be considered unfair in other games, as long as they follow the rules. However, actions like attacking others, using game glitches, or using offensive language may result in being banned from the servers.
Money (credits) earned in the game can be used to buy or upgrade spaceships or purchase equipment for a player’s character, such as suits and weapons. Players can customize their ships by changing parts like engines, weapons, and scanners. Another currency, ARX (purchased with real money), lets players buy cosmetic items for their ships, vehicles, and gear. Since mid-2024, new ships and structures (like the Dodec station) have been available for purchase with ARX for three months before being sold with in-game credits.
Frontier, the game’s developer, shares news, stories, and community goals through in-game features like Galnet News and mail. Galnet provides official updates about the galaxy. Tourist Beacons and Listening Posts also include background stories. Player actions in community goals can change the galaxy’s story and shape star systems.
There are over 45 spaceships available, each with customizable parts to fit different roles or careers. All ships use a Frame Shift Drive to travel at speeds up to 2,000 times faster than light within a star system. A temporary speed boost called Supercruise Overdrive (SCO) can increase a ship’s speed. Interstellar travel happens through a higher-dimensional space called hyperspace. Many ships resemble the classic shapes from the original 1984 game, like the Cobra Mk III. The flight model uses physics similar to real life, with a layer of automated controls to help players. Combat feels intense and immediate, unlike the long-distance battles in earlier games. Players can also use large ships like the Drake-Class Carrier (a mobile base) or the Javelin-Class Carrier (used by squadrons). Two ground vehicles, the Scarab and Scorpion, help players explore planets.
The game’s galaxy is a 1:1 simulation of the Milky Way, based on scientific data, star catalogs, and theories. It includes over 400 billion star systems, with 150,000 of them based on real astronomical data, such as our solar system (Sol) and Alpha Centauri. Some star systems are fictional, like Lave, while others are created using scientific models. The galaxy includes features like star clusters, mountains, canyons, craters, ring systems, and black holes like Sagittarius A*. There are 141 nebulae, 32 other galaxies, and 42 galactic regions. Players can dock at space stations, trade goods, repair ships, or complete missions. The galaxy evolves as players colonize systems, shape economies, or control territories through a feature called Powerplay.
Three major factions control parts of the galaxy: the Empire of Achenar, the Federation, and the Alliance of Independent Systems. A feature called Powerplay, added in 2015, lets players influence galactic politics and territorial control. Notable leaders include the imperial Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval, the Federation’s President Felicia Winters, and the Alliance’s Prime Minister Edmund Mahon. Independent leaders, such as Li Yong-Rui and Yuri Grom, also play important roles. Players can support one of 12 factions by completing tasks and earning rewards. The success of each faction affects their standing, territory, and goals. Competitive challenges between factions also occur.
Synopsis
Elite Dangerous takes place in the 34th century, 50 years after the events of Frontier: First Encounters. The story starts in the year 3300, which is the same as the year 2014 on Earth. Humans are expanding from the Core Systems (also called the Bubble) into the unpopulated parts of the Milky Way galaxy. In 3297, Sirius Corporation introduced a special drive called the Frameshift Drive (FSD). Ships with FSDs can travel 2000 times faster than light within a star system. Hyperspace allows travel between stars in just a few seconds. Spacecraft are as affordable to middle-class people as cars were in the 20th century. Owning a ship opens up job opportunities like mining, trading, and bounty hunting. However, the underclass still faces challenges. Megacorporations control large parts of the galaxy and operate without government limits. Most star systems are lawless, so owning weapons is not heavily restricted. Outside the Core Systems, dangers include hazards, factions, pirates, and alien creatures. The only known intelligent species are humans and the insect-like Thargoids. The Guardians are believed to be extinct. Many alien plants and animals live on planets and in space. There are many facilities on planets and in spaceports across colonized areas. However, as of October 2, 2025, only 0.0653% of the galaxy, or 261,063,785 unique star systems, had been explored.
In Elite Dangerous, there is no on-demand anti-gravity technology. People move around ships, outposts, and installations by floating, using suit microthrusters, or walking with magnetic boots. Large structures like starports and megaships use rotating rings that create gravity through centripetal force.
The First Thargoid War happened between 3125 and 3151, before Elite Dangerous. Humans were represented by GalCop (Galactic Cooperative of Worlds), formed in August 2696. The war began in 3125 when colonists in the Veliaze system attacked a Thargoid. The Thargoids responded with military force. Humans struggled because the Thargoids had superior technology. Scientists from INRA (Intergalactic Naval Reserve Arm) created a bioweapon that weakened the Thargoids, forcing them to retreat. GalCop’s focus on war caused economic problems. Corruption led to GalCop’s collapse in August 3174.
There are three major powers in the galaxy: the Alliance (Alliance of Independent Systems), the Empire (Empire of Achenar), and the Federation. The Federation formed after World War III, which happened between 2044 and 2055. The war destroyed many countries, killing over 1 billion people. The United States of the Americas survived due to its defense systems. After the war, corporations gained power on Earth. The country renamed itself the Federation of the United States, then the Federation. The Federal Accord, created in 2242, was based on the United States Constitution but simplified. A key rule is protecting alien cultures and life. The Federation has a representative democracy with a president elected by citizens. Its capital is Olympus Village on Mars, replacing Washington, D.C. in the 3rd millennium. The Federation has two main political parties: the Liberal Party and the Republican Party. The Federal Congress, with 500 members, meets in Olympus Village. The Federation uses technology like robotics and AI. In January 3308, it had a population of 1.9+ trillion people and controlled 3730 systems.
The Empire began as the Republic of Achenar, founded by Marlin Duval in 2292. Marlin, a wealthy Federal citizen, became disillusioned with government corruption and led a colony on Achenar 6d, a moon orbiting a gas giant. The republic was democratic but collapsed after Marlin’s death in 2296. Her brother, Henson Duval, turned the republic into the Empire. Colonization efforts on Achenar 6d caused the extinction of the Mudlarks, a native species. The Federation accused the Empire of genocide, while the Empire blamed introduced bacteria. The Federation invaded the Achenar system in 2324, but Emperor Henson Duval’s fleet forced them to retreat. The Empire became a superpower and signed a peace treaty with the Federation in 2382, though tensions remain. The Empire has a hereditary monarchy and legalized slavery. Its society is strictly divided into social classes based on wealth and influence. The Empire uses slaves and clones more than the Federation. In January 3308, the Empire had a population of 1.65+ trillion people and controlled 4,239 systems.
The Alliance was created in the 33rd century by Mick Turner and Meredith Argent. Systems tired of supporting conflicts between the Federation and Empire formed the Alliance of Independent Systems. The 3230 uprising in Alioth led to the Alliance’s founding. It grew as systems joined for independence or protection. The Alliance is a loose group of systems that work together through the Alliance Assembly. It has a parliamentary democracy with an elected Prime Minister. The real power lies with civil servants and the Council of Admirals. In January 3308, the Alliance had a population of 557 billion people and controlled 1,199 systems.
The story of Elite Dangerous begins in the year 3300. It covers events that happened over ten years since the game was first released on December 16, 2014. Players begin as a newly licensed pilot of the Pilots Federation, called a commander. In the game’s expansion, ED: Odyssey, players start at a settlement called Briscoe’s Legacy, where power must be restored after a fire. A pilot in a Cobra Mk IV helps the player reach a spaceport. The player also receives a Sidewinder Mk I ship and some credits. From there, players choose their own path as an explorer, trader, or system architect.
On December 19, 3300, Emperor Hengist Duval declared his son Prince Harold Duval unfit to inherit the throne. On August 5, 3301, Emperor Hengist Duval married Florence Lavigny. Both were killed by Brendan Paul Darius, an aide to Senator Denton Patreus. On September 14, 3306, Prince Harold Duval was killed aboard his ship by a member of the Neo-Marlinist Liberation Army while traveling from Capitol to Cemiess. Senator Ar
Development
At the 2011 Game Developers Conference, after a presentation about the original Elite game, Braben was asked during a Q&A session if Elite 4 was still being planned. He answered, "Yes, it would be a tragedy for it not to be." The project faced challenges in finding enough funding, which Braben believed was due to the traditional publishing model. He felt this model favored games with similar recent predecessors. At the time, space simulation games were not popular, making it hard to find a publisher. When Frontier Developments approved the project, there had been no major space games since Freelancer (2003). Braben also believed it was unfair for a publisher to influence how the game was developed.
Starting in 2012, Elite Dangerous was created using Frontier Developments’ own in-house Cobra engine. Frontier had been working on the game as a secret project for some time before launching a Kickstarter campaign. Other projects were prioritized before this one.
In April 2012, Braben discussed crowdfunding as a possible solution. Public fundraising began on November 5, 2012, through the Kickstarter website. The campaign aimed to raise £1.25 million and deliver a finished game by March 2014. Braben described the campaign as a way to "test-market the concept to check if there is still interest in such a game beyond people who regularly contact me about it, and to raise funds to make it happen." The Kickstarter goal was met 48 hours before the deadline and exceeded, with 25,681 backers contributing £1,578,316.
After Kickstarter, more funding was raised through Frontier’s UK website using PayPal. By April 2014, £1.7 million had been raised, and Braben regained the legal rights to the Elite franchise. The original development budget was £8 million, but by September 2014, Braben said the cost had "grown by quite a lot."
On November 14, 2014, Braben announced the removal of the game’s offline single-player mode because it was not possible to deliver an acceptable offline-only experience based on the original design. In December 2013, a playable alpha version of Elite Dangerous was released to Kickstarter backers who pledged £200. In May 2014, the game entered its first beta test phase, focusing on testing systems and servers with more players. A pre-release "gamma" build was given to backers three weeks before the game’s launch, giving them an early advantage.
The full 1.0 version for Windows was released on December 16, 2014. The Elite Dangerous Premiere event took place at the Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire on November 22, 2014. The event included interviews, speeches, prizes, and a detailed 1:10 scale model of the Cobra Mk III. On March 4, 2015, Microsoft announced at the Game Developers Conference that Elite Dangerous would be released on Xbox One. On April 2, 2015, the beta Mac version became available to all backers. The Xbox One version entered early access in June 2015 as part of Microsoft’s Game Preview program at E3 2015. It was fully released in October 2015. On April 2, 2015, the game was made available on Steam with cross-buy support between the Windows and Mac versions, the latter being released in May 2015. Although there are no plans for a Linux version, Braben said in 2014 that "There is no reason why COBRA cannot run on Linux, running through OpenGL." A PlayStation 4 version was released on June 27, 2017. Support for the Mac version ended with Update 3.3 on December 12, 2018. Elite Dangerous supports most virtual reality headsets since launch, except for the Odyssey on foot activities. In 2017, Frontier announced that Tencent had acquired a 9% stake in Frontier Developments.
The Elite Dangerous Original Soundtrack (OST) was composed by Erasmus Talbot and Frontier Head of Audio, Jim Croft. It is 2 hours long, with 45 songs and 5 themes: Neutral, Federal Space, Imperial Space, Allied Space, and Anarchic Space. The album includes an 8-page full-color PDF booklet with sleeve notes from Talbot and Croft. The Elite Dangerous: Odyssey OST was composed by Dan Millidge and released on May 29, 2021. It has a 67-minute runtime and 39 songs with action-packed and calming soundscapes. The albums are available on the Frontier Store.
The first "season" of expansions for Elite Dangerous, named Horizons, was announced on August 5, 2015, at Gamescom. It entered beta on November 30, 2015, and was released on December 15, 2015, for PC. The Xbox One version was released on June 3, 2016. Frontier Developments currently has no plans to release the expansion for Mac OS X unless Apple provides support for compute shaders, which Frontier believes are needed to render planet surfaces and other objects. Elite Dangerous: Horizons is a separately priced product. Original customers who also purchased Horizons received exclusive access to the Cobra Mk. IV ship.
Horizons added planetary landings, ground vehicles and bases, synthesis of consumables and temporary ship upgrades, ship-launched fighters, passenger missions, a character creator, and co-op multicrew support for larger ships. Planetary landings feature randomly created planets, initially supporting only worlds without an atmosphere. Players can land at planetary bases or choose any location and deploy a new eight-wheeled ground vehicle called the SRV ("Surface Reconnaissance Vehicle"). This vehicle has weapons, a "wave scanner" for finding resources, shipwrecks, and other items, a datalink system for hacking into bases, and thrusters that can lift it off the ground for short periods, depending on the gravity of a world. Thrusters in the wheels can be used to attach the vehicle to the ground on low-gravity worlds. Materials found on planets
Reception
Elite Dangerous received an average score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic. This score is based on reviews from 55 critics. Most critics gave positive reviews, with 84% saying they liked the game.
Chris Thursten from PC Gamer gave the game an 86 out of 100. He said the game could become a classic if the company improves on the basic features that are already there. He described the gameplay as exciting but also noted moments of emptiness and frustration. Dan Whitehead from Eurogamer gave the game 8 out of 10. He called it the most realistic space game ever made, but noted that some parts of the game felt repetitive. Andy Kelly from GamesRadar gave the game 4 out of 5. He said it is a great space game that brings back the Elite series, but the multiplayer features were not ready at launch. Roger Hargreaves from the Metro gave the game 7 out of 10. He said it is a good beginning but has not yet reached its full potential. Rob Zacny from IGN gave the game high praise, calling it one of the best space combat and trade games ever made. However, he also said it can be very boring at times. Lee Hutchinson from Ars Technica later said the game is so good that its problems don’t matter much. Joel Peterson from Destructoid gave the PlayStation 4 version 9 out of 10. He called it excellent, saying any flaws are not serious.
When the game removed offline mode on November 14, 2014, some customers were upset. They said they bought the game expecting offline play, and others said there was no warning. The company offered refunds to those who pre-ordered without playing, but not to those who had already played in alpha or beta. Later, the company said refunds would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Elite Dangerous won “Best of E3” from The Escapist and games.cz in 2014. It won the Game Developers Choice Award in 2015 for best audience. It was nominated for “Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay” at the D.I.C.E. Awards. In 2016, it was named the Best VR Game by Game Revolution. It was nominated for Evolving Game by BAFTA in 2017 and for the “Still Playing” award in 2019. The expansion Beyond was also nominated for Evolving Game at BAFTA in 2019. Space.com ranked it the best space flight simulation game in 2025.
By April 2015, over 500,000 copies were sold. By May 2016, sales reached 1.7 million. By December 2016, over 2.1 million units were sold. In January 2019, total sales passed 4.3 million, including 3 million base game units and 1.3 million expansion units. By April 2020, base game sales reached 3.5 million. In 2020, the company said the game had made over £100 million in revenue. By September 2022, over 4.8 million base game units were sold.