News Elite Dangerous: Arena is Out Now

Today we are very excited to announce the launch of a new stand-alone product, Elite Dangerous: Arena. Arena is the PVP mode already in Elite Dangerous so all players who own Elite Dangerous or Elite Dangerous: Horizons will already have access to it. Simply select Arena (previously labelled CQC) from the in-game main menu to play.

However, we believe Elite Dangerous: Arena is a compelling game in its own right and want to offer it to players whose main goal is to play fast paced PVP space combat action. This will open Elite Dangerous to a whole new group of players, all of whom you can play against in the Close Quarter Combat Championships (CQC) in Arena mode in Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous: Horizons. So if you haven’t played CQC already we have a number of challenges starting today that you can join in with.

Elite Dangerous: Arena is available to new players right now on our store and on steam for £4.99/$7.49.

Click here to learn more about Arena.

Mayhem Launch Celebrations

To celebrate today’s launch we decided to run a series of events for everybody who can play CQC to get involved in.

- CQC Mayhem – Visit our blog post on the Elite Dangerous community site to see our huge schedule of Mayhem events, and to find out how you can get involved.

- Official Launch Livestream – Three hours of CQC with the developers starting at 6PM GMT on our official YouTube Channel. Come and test your skills against six different members of the development team, and be in the chance of winning prizes for taking part.

- The Gladiators Challenge – During the first four weeks after the launch of Arena (16 February – 15 March), three named accounts beginning with ‘FDEV’ will be playing CQC on an ad hoc, but regular, basis. If you manage to get in a game with them, and take a screenshot, you will be entered into a prize draw. There will be 5 amazing prizes up for grabs in the draw including...

2 x Premium Elite Dangerous goodie bags, including a cap, a beanie, three faction mugs, signed artworkEvery paint job in the Elite Dangerous store is also up for grabs.
2 x Elite Dangerous: Horizons Season passes.
1 x Every paint job in the Elite Dangerous store!

The draw will be done on March 16.

To be in the chance to win, all you have to do is get into a CQC match with either FDEV Rhino, FDEV Wolf or FDEV Jet, take a screenshot of you playing against them (perhaps the leaderboard at the ened of the game), and email it to community@frontier.co.uk with the subject line ‘CQC Gladiators’. Your email address will be added to the list of entries, and winners will be drawn at random at the end of the four weeks.
 
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Been waiting for this move. A no-brainer really.

A question...will there be some sort of discount for people who have bought ED: Arena in case they want to upgrade to the "complete experience"? Get a hook into them with the Arena and then lure them over so to speak... :D

Edit: Nevermind...I just saw that is already the case.
 
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The most important question is.... Should I go into game as Rhino, Wolf or Jet?

I think you would look best as Jet

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Did you raise one of your eyebrows whilst saying that?

Of course......
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Serious question though - if I'm playing from Australia, what chance is there of even being matched with one of the FDEV participants? I mean, if matchmaking takes the connection quality into account as it supposedly does in the main game, then I wouldn't expect it to happen unless there's an aussie-based moderator or such using one of these on Frontier's behalf. Just curious as to whether geography and resultant latency differences will affect one's ability to even participate in the competition.
 
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Possibly a stupid question but does that mean players who start off playing in Arena will gain credits and the system permit (when they hit prestige) for the main game?
 

Zac Antonaci

Head of Communications
Frontier
Of course......
.
Serious question though - if I'm playing from Australia, what chance is there of even being matched with one of the FDEV participants? I mean, if matchmaking takes the connection quality into account as it supposedly does in the main game, then I wouldn't expect it to happen unless there's an aussie-based moderator or such using one of these on Frontier's behalf. Just curious as to whether geography and resultant latency differences will affect one's ability to even participate in the competition.

We will be playing at all different time zones. :)
 
This is great news! I really enjoy CQC, the only real downside was that due to the limited number of players getting into a game can take quite a while. Broadening the CQC player base with the release of "ED:Arena" should alleviate this issue somewhat!

The pricing also is more than fair (there are many much lesser games out there with a higher price tag) and I love that people playing CQC through the "full" game client will be able to play with those who buy the standalone Arena game!

Well played, FD! :)
 
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Zac Antonaci

Head of Communications
Frontier
Possibly a stupid question but does that mean players who start off playing in Arena will gain credits and the system permit (when they hit prestige) for the main game?

Yeah that is correct. It's a great way to let people get a feel for the game and the fast paced combat and then enter into the wider Elite Dangerous Galaxy when they are ready.
 
That isn't a stupid question!

Thanks, it was a thought that popped into my head when reading the announcement.

I guess if they do accrue the credits and permit it would also add more of an incentive to purchase the main game - however as they wouldn't have started a new save in the game I have no idea how they would transfer over...
 

Zac Antonaci

Head of Communications
Frontier
This is great news! I really enjoy CQC, the only real downside was that due to the limited number of players getting into a game can take quite a while. Broadening the CQC player base with the release of "ED:Arena" should alleviate this issue somewhat!

The pricing also is more than fair (there are many much lesser games out there with a higher price tag) and I love that people playing CQC through the "full" game client will be able to play with those who buy the standalone Arena game!

Well played, FD! :)

Thanks Arubeto!
 
Ha ha ha, you beat me to it Zac!

I am really glad to hear that this is being rolled out - I have been slowly trying to reach Prestige myself but the limited time I get to play in the evenings coupled with the wait times have made it a real slog (also I am terrible so that doesn't help)
 
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