A Spaceship For Christmas - Elite: Dangerous Dated

Fear not, people who've been getting confused or offput by alphas and betas and premium betas: Elite: Dangerous is in for a full release (complete with a more affordable price) on December 16th.

Dear me from two years ago: hey, Elite 4's coming out in a few weeks. Betcha never expected that, eh?

The release build won't be the end - this is very much designed to be a living project, by all accounts. Planetfall, wandering around spaceships, even first-person shooty-bang are among the features planned for the years to come. Part of me worries about it going overboard and losing the essential 'here is space, it is yours' appeal, but I'm probably just being a silly purist.

You can pre-order now for £35 here, or join the remaining 39 days of the beta for £50 here.

I'm very excited. Despite having my cockles thoroughly warmed by early alpha experiences, I've been holding off doing much with the beta so as to not tire of anything. I have been living the game vicariously through Brendy's excellent diaries, however.

Come the 16th, I shall be lost in space for quite some time.

After all these years, Elite 4 Dangerous is coming out next month. Well, I never.