On December 15, multiplayer spacefaring game Elite Dangerous will enter its second decade of live service. The game, played inside a realistic recreation of all 400 billion star systems in our Milky Way galaxy, has changed a lot over the years. But on Wednesday, during a scheduled developer livestream on Twitch, publisher Frontier Developments teased perhaps the biggest change yet. Beginning in 2025, players will be invited to colonize the galaxy, forever changing the shape of the game.
Launched in 2014, Elite Dangerous is an elaborate simulation played primarily in first-person, either from the bridge of your own personal starship or on foot. Players can fight, trade, and explore. Much like in Eve Online, the most interesting storylines in the game have always been driven by the players, who have over the years come together in huge numbers to fight wars and lead expeditions. Now the developers are opening up the possibility for even more player-led storylines to emerge.
Logistics will be key early on in the process, developers said, with players initially moving materials into the system to build a starport. Once completed, players will be able to add additional settlements and other facilities in-system. They’ll even be able to dictate how the system’s economic output is focused, choosing between high-tech or agribusiness, among other options. These new built-up systems will also dovetail into the game’s faction-based play, so players will be able to influence the political state of the game based on their constructions.
“[It will] drastically change how each player engages with Elite Dangerous,” said brand manager Zac Cocken on Twitch in a segment that begins at around the 55-minute mark. “If you’re a trader, there’s going to be new trade routes that open up for you. If you’re an exploration player, you might have a new hub further out than you’re used to to use as a home base before you go out into the black.”
The team also introduced a new system colonization ship. Bristling with landing pads it’s bigger even than the fleet carriers introduced to the game in 2020.
Cocken said fans should expect even more details beginning next month.
