Elite Dangerous Faces Backlash After New ‘Pay to Win’ Move

Since its release for PC in 2014, Elite Dangerous has boasted a large and dedicated fanbase. The online flight simulation game, developed by Frontier Developments, lets players command a spaceship to explore a realistic 1:1 scale open-world Milky Way galaxy, making it truly a game that never ends.

Despite drowning in positive reviews for years, everything changed with the release of a new ship called the Python Mk II. At first glance, it’s nothing worth getting upset over–just a pretty powerful medium-class vessel that promises a smoother ride. The problem? The devs have put it behind a paywall until August.

“The Python Mk II is available in shipyards for all Odyssey owners on PC from 7 August or you can unlock early access today via the ARX store,” the update post reads.

The standard version of the ship will cost players 16,520 ARX, while the souped-up version will cost a whopping 33,000 ARX. That means players will need to spend between $12.50 and $18.99 to get this hot new ride–although about 400 ARX can be earned each week by simply playing the game.

“They promised no pay to win and have absolutely lied so I am uninstalling this game [and] I’m never playing it again,” one review on Steam reads. The game’s recent reviews are ‘Mixed.’

Elite Dangerous is available to play on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. In 2022, all development for future consoles was halted indefinitely, though the title does support VR support for most headsets on PC.