Elite Dangerous is an online space, trading, exploration and combat simulation game developed and published by Frontier Developments. The player commands a spaceship in a realistic 1:1 scale open-world representation of the Milky Way, with open-ended gameplay. Players can explore and engage with a procedurally generated galaxy, which includes around 400 billion star systems. The procedural system allows landing on planets with no or tenuous atmospheres. Many planets have special flora and fauna including alien and human settlements.
Elite Dangerous is the fourth game in the Elite series and the sequel to Frontier: First Encounters (1995). It is the first Elite game to feature massively multiplayer and first-person on foot gameplay, space colonization of star systems, and player actions affect the overarching story of the persistent universe, while retaining a single-player mode.
In November 2012, Frontier began a Kickstarter campaign for Elite Dangerous to test-market the concept, verify broader interest and raise funds. It was released for Windows in December 2014, macOS in May 2015, Xbox One in October 2015 and PlayStation 4 in June 2017. Elite Dangerous supports most virtual reality headsets on Windows. Development was led by David Braben until August 2022.
The game has received a plethora of seasons of updates with free major downloadable content. There are two paid expansions Horizons (15 December 2015) and Odyssey (18 May 2021). Horizons added features such as landing on planets without atmospheres, surface recon vehicle, engineering, ship-launched fighters, multicrew, avatars, guardian ruins, and tourist beacons. Horizons is included for free in the base-game since 27 October 2020. Odyssey added landing and disembarking on planets with tenuous atmospheres, settlements, geological features, on-foot equipment and customization, ships, fleet carriers, concourse in star ports, various activities in first-person like mercenary and exobiology. By September 2022, sales of Elite Dangerous had passed 4.8 million units.
Gameplay
Elite Dangerous combines features from space simulator, first person shooter and massively multiplayer genres with a persistent-galaxy based on the Milky Way. There are 3 game modes: Solo (single player), Private Group (friends and invites), and Open Play (play with everyone).
Upon its release in 2014, Elite Dangerous (ED) began in the year 3300 and has been in sync with UTC albeit 1,286 years in the future. The game is set around 45 years after Frontier: First Encounters. Elite Dangerous retains the basic premise of its predecessors: players start with a spaceship and a small amount of money in a 1:1 scale, open galaxy and roleplay in various activities to acquire more money (credits) and merit. A key difference is the addition of on-foot, first-person gameplay which was added with the Odyssey expansion on 19 May 2021. This enables first person gameplay such as collecting genetic samples of alien flora for exobiology and first-person shooter combat. Other activities for example are trading, mining, exploration, exobiology, passenger carrier, smuggling, bounty hunting, piracy and assassination. Players can also socialize in first person with other players and NPCs in the concourse of a space station or planetary settlement. System Colonisation is a major new feature in the Elite series which requires the Odyssey expansion. Players can claim uninhabited star systems, build colonies with facilities and shape the economies as the system architect. Colonization was added as a free update in beta on 26 Feb 2025 with the full release on 11 Nov 2025.
ED is the first in the series to feature online multiplayer with access to a massively multiplayer persistent galaxy via Open Play, as well as an online-only single player mode. Open Play allows actions that would be considered griefing in other multiplayer games as long as it doesn't violate the terms of service. However, some actions, such as mob mentality persecution of players, exploiting game mechanics, and obscene language to attack others could result in a ban from the servers.
Money (credits) earned throughout the in-game galaxy can be spent on buying or upgrading ships, or on foot equipment for the player character like suits and weaponry. Players can customize their ships by changing modules, e.g. engines, weapons, power plants, scanners, etc. The second in-game currency called ARX (buyable with real money) lets players purchase cosmetics for their ships, vehicles, on foot suits, and handheld weapons. Since mid-2024, new ships and some structures (Dodec station) have a 3 months early access for ARX and subsequently available for in-game credits.
Frontier publishes community goals, lore, and large-scale, star system, regional or galaxy-affecting stories via the in-game Galnet News and mail feature. GalNet provides the official galactic news. Tourist Beacons and Listening Posts also have background lore. Player-driven actions in community goals result in persistent changes that shape the star systems and the overarching narrative.
Ships and vehicles There are over 45 flyable ships with highly configurable builds to suit roles and careers. Every ship is powered by a Frame Shift Drive to supercruise up to 2000+ times the speed of light in a star system. Supercruise Overdrive (SCO) temporarily boosts a ship's speed in supercruise significantly, at the cost of significantly increased fuel consumption. Interstellar travel occurs via a higher dimensional region called hyperspace. Many ships are based on the classic, polygonal shapes of the original Elite (1984) like the Cobra Mk III which continues the rich heritage. The flight model has Newtonian physics with a fly-by-wire layer applied on top. Flight assist is enabled by default. This makes combat feel visceral and seat-of-the-pants, rather than Frontier: Elite IIs jousting at huge distances. Players can also acquire capital ships: Drake-Class Carrier and the Javelin-Class Carrier. The Drake is like a mobile base for players with billions of credits. The Javelin has additional features to support the operations of a squadron (guild). There are 2 SRVs (Surface Recon Vehicles): the Scarab and the Scorpion. An SRV Rhino has been announced. These ground vehicles make it easier to traverse a planet surface for exploration, combat or exobiology to find alien flora.
Galaxy The virtual galaxy is a 1:1 simulation of the Milky Way where players can explore and colonise around 400 billion star systems. It is based on scientific principles, scientific data, star catalogues and theories. It is created using a mix of procedural generation with the Stellar Forge and artistic direction. Planets, moons and gas giants rotate and orbit in real time, reflecting dynamic day-night cycles. Around 150,000 of the game's star systems are taken from real astronomical data. Such as Sol and Alpha Centauri. Constellations can be seen from Sol. A few partially fictional star systems are included of Frontier and First Encounters before new exoplanets were discovered by astronomers. For example, none of the gas giants of the Fomalhaut system correspond with the detected properties of Fomalhaut b. A handful of entirely fictional systems are included. These are named after the original systems in Elite such as Lave. The remainder are procedurally generated according to scientific models. There is also cosmic phenomena like different star types, star clusters, mountains, canyons, craters, ring systems, and black holes like Sagittarius A*. There are 141 nebulae based on the Milky Way. 32 other galaxies are visible from the Milky Way. The classic Coriolis starport was also updated to the modern visuals of ED. The Odyssey expansion added planets with tenuous atmospheres. The atmospheric visuals are based on their composition, Rayleigh and Mie scattering. Minerals and metals can be extracted from asteroids in planetary rings and on a planetary surface. Some planets have alien organisms, mineral formations, plants. There are notable stellar phenomena like seed pods, mollusks and anomalies in space. Players can dock their ships at space stations, outposts and facilities on planet surfaces in star systems to trade goods, purchase spacecrafts or on foot equipment, re-arm their ship, perform repairs and accept tasks from the Mission Board. Players may salvage lost cargo, encounter other ships and megaships, interact with the Thargoid aliens, or explore the ruins of the extinct Guardians. The galaxy map consists of 42 galactic regions, 9 major galactic arms and the galactic plane. It's an evolving galaxy with dynamic star systems, economies, governments that can be shaped by players via system colonisation, and territory control via Powerplay. These changes in the galaxy are processed via the background simulation.
Factions There are three superpowers, the Empire of Achenar, the Federation, and the Alliance of Independent Systems. Update 1.3 (June 2015) added Powerplay: a grand strategy layer with galactic politics and territorial control. Notable NPC leaders scheme to gain influence in the galaxy via Powerplay. For example the imperial Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Princess Aisling Duval, Denton Patreus (Admiral of the Fleet of the Empire and Senator of Eotienses) and senator Zemina Torval (CEO of Torval Mining). The Alliance has prime minister Edmund Mahon, and councilor Nakato Kaine. The Federal leaders are President Felicia Winters and Shadow President Jerome Archer. There are also influential independent powers: Li Yong-Rui (CEO of Sirius Corporation), Yuri Grom (self-proclaimed Dictator of EG Pilots), Pranav Antal (leader of the Utopia Movement), and Archon Delaine (Pirate King of the crime syndicate Kumo Crew). Players can pledge their support to 1 of 12 charismatic powers. Players can contribute by completing tasks while earning various rewards. The collective outcome of each faction's achievements determines a faction's standing, territorial control, and proceeding objectives. There are also competitive, galactic faction challenges. The faction-specific ship manufacturers are Core Dynamics (Federation), Gutamaya (Empire), and Lakon Spaceways (Alliance). The Empire and Federation each have a ship line that are obtained by acquiring ranks within the respective faction. Alliance ships are not locked behind a ranking system. The independent ship manufacturers are Brewer Corporation, Faulcon DeLacy, Saud Kruger, and Zorgon Peterson.
Roles and ranks Every player is a member of the Pilots Federation and holds the honorific title of "commander" (CMDR) which is separate from their actual rank and experience. They receive a rank based on their in-game achievements and experience. The main rank categories are: Combat, Trade, Explorer, CQC, Mercenary and Exobiologist. The latter 2 ranks were introduced with the Odyssey expansion. The rank for CQC (Close Quarters Combat) requires competing in PVP ship combat matches. Players gain experience points by doing activities that are related to the rank categories. For example, a bounty hunter destroying pirates gains Combat experience and rank progression. On 15 March 2015, the first player who reached Triple Elite status (Elite rank in Combat, Exploration, and Trading), won £10,000, while the first player who reached 1 Elite rank won £1,000. Players who reach triple elite in Combat, Trade and Explorer are awarded with a special Triple Elite crest by the Pilots Federation. The maximum rank per category was increased to Elite V. Certain ranks in major factions grant permits (access) to special star systems. Benefits also include discounts to ship prices.
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