Elite Dangerous
Elite Dangerous is a strategic sci-fi MMORPG that puts you in the cockpit of your own starship, letting you carve out a career through exploration, trading, and combat while your actions subtly feed into a larger, shared galaxy where factions rise, fall, and go to war.
 | Publisher: Frontier Developments Playerbase: Medium Type: Space Sim Release Date: December 16, 2014 Pros: +Deep ship outfitting and loadout variety. +Huge galaxy that rewards wandering and discovery. +Economy and politics shaped by players over time. Cons: -Steep onboarding and lots to learn. -Progression can feel grind-heavy when chasing upgrades. -Some systems feel thin compared to the scale of the universe. |
Elite Dangerous Overview
Elite Dangerous is a strategic sci-fi space sim developed and published by Frontier Developments, built on the studio’s COBRA game engine. At its core, it is a cockpit-first experience focused on piloting, navigation, and decision-making in a living galaxy. You begin with a modest ship and limited credits, then gradually build your reputation and finances by choosing the kind of commander you want to be, whether that means hauling cargo, hunting bounties, running missions, or venturing into the unknown for exploration data.
The game’s strongest hook is how all of those personal goals sit inside a shared universe. Trading routes, combat activity, and mission outcomes contribute to broader background changes, such as faction influence and conflict states. It is not a traditional theme park MMO with scripted questlines pushing you forward, instead it is a sandbox where you set your own objectives, upgrade your ship module by module, and learn how to survive (and thrive) in different regions of space. You can fly alone at your own pace or group up, and the experience supports everything from quiet delivery work to tense PvP encounters and larger community-driven struggles.
Elite Dangerous Key Features:
- Highly Modular Ship Outfitting – ships can be rebuilt around different roles using a large library of modules, letting you tune power, defenses, weapons, and utility to suit your preferred style.
- Trade and Turn a Profit – buy low, sell high, and plan routes around supply, demand, and risk, with a player-influenced economy that reacts over time to what commanders do.
- Deep-Space Exploration – set out beyond familiar systems to scan worlds and find remarkable locations, with the appeal coming from the journey, navigation, and the scale of the galaxy.
- Meaningful Faction Pressure – combat victories, deliveries, and mission support can push local powers toward expansion, decline, or war, shaping the background state of the universe.
- Mission Variety for Solo Pilots – a wide mission board system provides structured jobs for earning credits and improving standing, useful when you want direction without joining a group.
Elite Dangerous Screenshots
Elite Dangerous Featured Video
Elite Dangerous Review
Elite Dangerous succeeds most when you treat it as a serious spacefaring sim rather than a fast, story-led RPG. The moment-to-moment feel is all about operating a ship: managing speed, lining up approaches, reading your instruments, and making smart calls under pressure. Even routine tasks like docking and long-distance travel have a deliberate pace, and that slower rhythm is either the game’s biggest charm or the first friction point for new players.
Progression is primarily economic and mechanical. You earn credits through the activities you choose, then reinvest into better ships and improved modules. Outfitting is where the game becomes especially engaging, because the same hull can be configured into a trader, a combat specialist, or a multipurpose workhorse depending on how you balance power, defenses, and utility. This customization also creates a satisfying learning curve, you slowly understand why a particular module choice matters, how it affects heat, range, survivability, or damage output, and how to build around the risks of the space you plan to operate in.
Combat has weight and tension, particularly when you are outmatched or far from help. Dogfights reward situational awareness, smart positioning, and knowing when to disengage. PvP can be thrilling but unforgiving, and it highlights one of Elite Dangerous’ defining traits: you are not protected from the consequences of poor preparation. A badly fit ship or a rushed decision can end a run quickly, which makes victories feel earned but also increases the mental load for players who just want to relax.
Trading and mission running provide a more methodical way to play, and they are often the best entry points for building your first upgrades. The economy and faction systems give these activities context, since deliveries and successes feed into wider influence changes. That said, the larger simulation can feel distant at times. You may contribute to shifts in local politics without always getting a clear, immediate payoff, and some players will find that the grand scale does not always translate into moment-to-moment variety.
The biggest obstacle is onboarding. Elite Dangerous asks you to learn a lot: controls, navigation, fitting, risk management, and the basic rules of staying alive in space. Once it clicks, the freedom is impressive, but the path to competence can be steep, and the grind for certain upgrades can feel like work if you do not enjoy the underlying flight and planning.
Overall, Elite Dangerous is best for players who want a long-term space sim where mastery comes from understanding your ship and setting your own goals. If you are looking for a guided narrative or rapid rewards, it may feel sparse. If you want a believable, player-shaped galaxy and the satisfaction of becoming a capable commander over time, it remains a compelling cockpit experience.
Elite Dangerous Links
Elite Dangerous Official Site
Elite Dangerous Steam Page
Elite Dangerous Subreddit
Elite Dangerous Wikia
Elite Dangerous Facebook Page
Elite Dangerous Wikipedia
Elite Dangerous System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz / Phenom 9850 Quad-Core
RAM: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce GTX 260 / Radeon HD 4870
Hard Disk Space: 7 GB available space
Recommended Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU: Core i7-3770K 4-Core 3.5GHz / FX-4350
RAM: 8 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce GTX 770 / Radeon R9 280X
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB available space
Elite Dangerous is also available for Mac OS X.
Elite Dangerous Music & Soundtrack
A dedicated soundtrack section is still pending, but audio is a major part of Elite Dangerous’ identity. Engine rumble, cockpit warnings, weapon fire, and the quiet emptiness between encounters do a lot of the immersion work, making travel feel grounded and combat feel sharp. When music does appear, it tends to support the sense of scale rather than overwhelm it.
Elite Dangerous Additional Information
Developer(s): Frontier Developments
Publisher(s): Frontier Developments
Platforms: PC, Mac, Xbox One
Language(s): English, French, German, Russian, Spanish
Game Engine: COBRA Game Engine
PC Release Date: December 16, 2014
Steam Release Date: April 2, 2015
Xbox and Mac Release Date: October 6, 2015
Playstation 4 Release Date: TBD
Expansions:
- Elite Dangerous: Horizons – December 15, 2015
Development History / Background:
Elite Dangerous is a strategic sci-fi MMORPG developed and published by Frontier Developments. The project was backed through Kickstarter in November 2012, followed by an alpha release in December 2013. The full PC launch arrived in December 2014, then the game came to Valve’s Steam platform in April 2015, which also coincided with a Mac beta test. Later that year, Frontier released Elite Dangerous on Xbox One and Mac in October.
