Elite: Dangerous Update #80

Hello, Commander,

Welcome to Elite: Dangerous Newsletter #80.

This week, we're recovering after an E3 in which we released Elite: Dangerous on Xbox One, announced Planet Coaster for PC, and revealed an all-new way to play Elite: Dangerous in Close Quarters Combat.

The newsletter is back after a week in Los Angeles, with a roundup of our time at E3, a look at the new instant-action PVP mode coming to Elite: Dangerous and a peek at the tweaked Federal Fighter as we prepare to put you in its cockpit.

As always, you can hear the latest news and updates directly from the development team on our Forums, Twitter, Facebook and right here in the newsletter every week, and we're always eager to hear your feedback. Have a great weekend!

Contents This Week

• Frontier @ E3
• Introducing CQC
• Peek Of The Week
• Comms Chatter
• GalNet

Frontier @ E3

Last week Frontier attended E3 in Los Angeles. Our booth was placed just above the west hall, keeping clear of the deafening noise of the show floor, and for three days we entertained press with presentations, interviews, and hands-on demos for PC and Xbox One.

The show began for real on Tuesday, but Frontier was up early on Monday morning to release Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One in the Game Preview Program, Xbox One's version of early access.

Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One is available now but still in development, and is available at a reduced price during the Game Preview. It's similar to how we launched Elite: Dangerous on PC, with the cut-price Mercenary Edition for pre-orders.

And we're offering another deal. Existing PC and Mac players can pick up Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One and receive a £5 voucher for the Frontier Store.

Once the Game Preview stage ends, everyone already playing the Preview release on Xbox One will automatically transfer to the finished game for no additional cost.

At E3 we spent the week talking to press about Elite: Dangerous for PC, Mac and Xbox One, and Frontier CEO David Braben appeared on Twitch, IGN, Microsoft and Gamespot's livestreams from the show, with Ambassador Kerrash doing the piloting behind the scenes.

Kerrash was our lone British Ambassador, joining the American team consisting of Ambassadors Anderson DeGrear, Shazbot, FifthHorseman and Rezri. A big thanks to all of them for helping us show the game at its very best.

Our booth was host to livestreams by Bad News Baron and IAmSp00n, too, giving players around the world a window into our E3 show.

It was a huge week for Frontier, rounded off by The Guinness Book Of Records stopping by to award Elite "Longest Running Space Simulation Series." We've been around since 1984 and we're proud of it.

The next stop on Frontier's tour will be Gamescom. We'll be in Cologne, Germany at the beginning of August with more to talk about and a showfloor presence everyone is welcome to attend - not just press.

We'll have networked CQC playable on Xbox One on the showfloor, and a massive PC setup with VR headsets and 4K displays, and that's just the start. We'll have more surprises to come so we hope newsletter readers can make it.

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Introducing CQC

At E3 we announced our new PVP mode, Close Quarters Combat. CQC is coming to Elite: Dangerous for PC, Mac and Xbox One later this year, for free.

CQC goes beyond our original vision for Elite: Dangerous. It's a new PVP mode accessed from the main menu, launching you into instant combat on custom maps in twelve-player Free For All Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture The Flag (in the Xbox One Game Preview beta).

Last week we revealed the trailer and spoke with CQC's designers, James Stimpson and Dan Davies. We also showed five minutes of CQC gameplay behind closed doors to press. You can catch a glimpse of that footage in Microsoft's E3 Daily show here (at 31:50).

The map on show is Orbital Junction and the ship is the new player-piloted F63 Falcon. It's one of the three ships you can fly in the CQC Xbox One beta and you can read all about them in James and Dan's interview.

If you're playing on PC or Mac, don't worry. CQC is coming this year and it's free. CQC is being made by a dedicated team of PC, Mac and Xbox One players too, and we don't want anyone left out of the fight.

The Elite: Dangerous team is bigger than ever, and the majority are working on something secret for PC and Mac. It's not quite ready for the world just yet, but we'll be able to tell you more at Gamescom. Believe us: we can hardly wait.

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Peek Of The Week

A render of the new modified F63 Condor Federal Fighter. The Condor has seen some minor modifications for player control in CQC, and the new version will replace the existing Federal Fighter in the open galaxy later this year as an AI-piloted craft.

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Comms Chatter

Commander Asayanami Dei ended up stuck between a rock and a hard place. Get lost in space with the commander on our forums here.

Over on the Elite: Dangerous subreddit, cobbman11 shows off some Elite: Dangerous screenshots with a twist.

Commander ChaosWulff on has been documenting his progress, happenings, and developments in the Elite: Dangerous galaxy. Check out his YouTube channel.

And finally, members of the community have created a new subreddit devoted to Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One. Aptly named, EliteOne.

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Archon Delaine has always been a strong leader, and keeps the worst excesses of his lieutenants in check. Rumours coming from Harma suggest that the Pirate King is furious at the chaotic, incompetent and downright treacherous actions being carried out in his name. So much so that Delaine has dispatched the Kumo Crew enforcers to deal with the matter personally. Those who find themselves blocking the Kumo Crew’s spread throughout the Pegasi sector will pay the price for their defiance.

It has been some time since the Kappa Fornacis Farmers Union has dared to draw attention to itself beyond its home system. However, following a reported trade deal with one of Senator Zemina Torval’s corporations, the farmers of Panem look a good deal more confident. Georgio Algeria, spokesman for the Kappa Fornacis Farmers Union, had this to say: “Even with a new President, they won’t win. What we have is great, and you can’t keep greatness down. That Hudson guy is too uptight. He needs to chill, and I’ve got just the thing for him!”

Chancellor Blaine made an appearance before the Senate today in order to provide an update on the Emperor’s health, following the attempt on the Emperor’s life a little over a month ago. “I am pleased to report that the Emperor is recovering nicely,” the Chancellor began. “His Grace, Emperor Hengist Duval, has begun to show signs of returning to good health. The Emperor’s personal physicians have assured me that should His Grace continue to heal at his current rate, the Emperor will almost certainly make a full recovery.”


A long standing Federation-leaning vigilante group has announced today that it is declaring itself its own sovereign power, defying all of the great galactic powers in what members of the groups are calling a struggle between "politicians, slavers and warlords." The Armada will instead be working to create its own system of governance, based upon its own particular rules of law. The group has been known to spring up in times of need to defend the defenceless against forces that seek to to evil in the Galaxy. Adle's Armada will now be acting as its own power in the universe, with members of the group operating primarily in the Ngaliba, Mbukuravi and Kremainn systems. GalNet reached out to members of Congress for comment, but at time of press had received no reply.

Archon Delaine and his Kumo Crew have continued their seemingly unstoppable rampage across the Pegasi sector this week, with the Crew managing to establish new strongholds in Arawere, Huaich, LTT 16548 and San Muss. Reports coming in from the sector indicate that the Kumo Crew are now operating in over 160 different systems, with millions of people being forced to pay the pirates for protection, or else risk death or dismemberment for failing to do so. Many smaller interstellar corporations have announced that the Pegasi sector is now off limits, a fact which will doubtless lead to more suffering for residents of the region as their economies become affected by the lack of workable trade routes.

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That’s it for Newsletter #80. As always, if there's anything in particular that you’d like to hear more about, or if you'd like to ask a question, then please contact us at elite-newsletter@frontier.co.uk.

Click for the latest Game Manual, Quickstart Guide and Pilot Training Videos. Visit our Support team here and read all our previous newsletters here.

Until next time, fly safe and Right On, Commander.

The Frontier Team