Four months after its initial announcement, Frontier Developments can finally give users a taste of what’s coming over the course of the next few months. Today, the beta for Elite Dangerous: Horizons is out on the PC.
Horizons is the team’s first big expansion since the release of the game. For now, beta players will be able to try out planetary landings, a feature that was heavily touted since the reveal of the expansion at Gamescom. In addition to landing on the galaxy’s vast number of planets, additional features are available on the surface, such as docking ports, planet-based missions, and the surface recon vehicle.
When the final version of Horizons is released, there will be more features included throughout 2016. This includes looting and crafting mechanics, multi-crew support on certain ships, character customization, and ship-launched fighters. This is all on top of another layer of extra content that will see the addition of more ships, more missions, and new maps for the competitive CQC mode.
The beta launch was supposed to arrive a week earlier, but there were a few issues, the biggest of which was the switch to a 64-bit client for the expansion. If you own the base game, you can still play with a 32-bit version, but the upgrade to Horizons means that you will need to upgrade to the 64-bit client.
If you want to get in on the action now, the beta (and full access to the rest of Horizons new features as they come out) will cost you $74.99. If you’re willing to wait a few more weeks, then you can pre-order the final version of the expansion now for $59.99.
