ELITE: DANGEROUS BETA 2 AVAILABLE NOW
MEDIA ALERT
ELITE: DANGEROUS BETA 2 AVAILABLE NOW
Major gameplay additions in Beta 2 update. Beta 3 set for 28th October
Cambridge, UK — 3 October 2014 — Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) has released Elite: Dangerous Beta 2 and announces the date for Beta 3.
Beta 2 marks a major update to the game, with new ships, new outposts and even more of the galaxy unlocked for exploration. Highlights include:
- Reputations per system and per faction that influence attitudes and prices offered to players.
- 570 star systems and 381,033 cubic light years to explore.
- Discovery, exploration and charting of new systems and the option to trade gathered data.
- Detailed system maps.
- New Outposts (small, exposed ‘roadside café’ stations in remote systems).
- New Ocellus starport.
- Further upgradeable Life Support modules, Engines, Hyperdrives, Power Distributors, Sensors, Shield Generators and Cargo Racks for all ships.
- New weapons, including mines and a Cargo Hatch Limpet built for non-lethal piracy.
- Visibility of other ships in supercruise, and the ability to track pilots through supercruise and hyperspace.
- In-game GalNet newsfeed, reporting story events from around the galaxy and each system.
- Gradual ‘wear and tear’ on ships.
- New Lakon Asp Explorer ship.
- All backers names from the appropriate crowd-funding reward tiers have been added to the NPC naming database.
Beta 2 also includes a host of other improvements and optimizations including additional rock, ice and metal-rich planetary rings, new music, optional ‘simulator’ tutorials and optional pre-flight control checks. SLI/Crossfire support allows play in 4K ultra-high definition (with appropriate hardware).
Beta 3 will be released on October 28th. Features and additions included in Beta 3 will be announced over the coming weeks.
Elite: Dangerous will be released in Q4 2014.
Elite: Dangerous‘ online Beta is available to play now for £50 ($75, €60) through Frontier’s online store. A discount for existing backers of the full game is applied on checkout, making upgrading easy.
The pre-order exclusive Elite: Dangerous Mercenary Edition includes the full game, an additional Eagle fighter, ship liveries, Day One decal and other digital goodies for £35.00 ($50, €40) Pre-orders receive a £4.99 discount on the final release price of £39.99 ($59.99, €49.99).
Players who pre-order the Mercenary Pack can upgrade to immediate Beta access at any time for £15.
All backers who have purchased Beta access or higher will receive the Mercenary Pack – including the final game – upon release in calendar year 2014.
About Frontier Developments
Frontier Developments plc is a leading independent game developer, founded in 1994 by David Braben, co-author of the seminal ‘Elite’ space simulation. Based in Cambridge, UK and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Frontier uses its proprietary ‘Cobra’ game development technology to create innovative games across consoles, computers, smartphones and tablets.
Elite: Dangerous, to be released on PC and Mac, was crowd-funded via a successful Kickstarter campaign and Frontier’s own website. Previous Frontier titles include RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Thrillville, LostWinds, Kinectimals, Disneyland Adventures and Zoo Tycoon. The studio recently announced ‘Screamride’ for Microsoft’s Xbox One and is currently working on other original titles with its publishing partners.
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