Elite Dangerous ▶ Trailer
Elite Dangerous screenshot 1Elite Dangerous screenshot 2
ActionAdventureMassively MultiplayerRPGSimulationStrategySpace SimSpaceOpen WorldExplorationSci-fi

2,869 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 5,846

Peak in the last 7 days: 7,085

Elite Dangerous Steam store

Game description

Take control of your own starship and blaze your trail in an ever-changing galaxy. Master the arts of combat, mining and trade or venture out into the unknown across a 1:1 scale universe.

Basic info

DeveloperFrontier Developments
PublisherFrontier Developments
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateApr 2, 2015
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 8/10 64-bit
ProcessorQuad Core CPU (4 x 2Ghz)
Memory6 GB
GraphicsNvidia GTX 470/AMD R7 240
Storage25 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 413 reviews from the past 1 year

70.1/ 100
Bottom 30%

Steam rating: Mostly Positive (77%)

Metacritic: 80 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

A space sim set across a full scale galaxy, Elite Dangerous scores 70.1, with players warning of a steep start.

👍 Strengths

80 reviews say they enjoy it, and some describe it as a hobby they return to for hundreds of hours once past the early hump. 54 praise the world and its atmosphere, and some single out flying through a life size Milky Way and quiet moments on untouched planets. 46 value the freedom to set their own goals, whether as a miner, trader, explorer, pirate or soldier. Visuals & Sound ranks 525th of 1249, Story & World ranks 447th of 1096, and Content Volume ranks 368th of 1351.

👎 Where it falls short

107 reviews say it is hard to learn, with a weak tutorial, many unexplained systems and constant trips to wikis and videos. 35 find it repetitive, and some describe a grind of similar missions across a vast but empty space. 26 criticize recent pricing, and some point to ship upgrades sold for real money that would otherwise take a long grind. Gameplay ranks 882nd of 1396, and Tech & Support ranks 1004th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“most fun flying experience in the genre despite frustrations” · 80 reviews
“unique experience of traversing 1:1 scale milky way” · 54 reviews
“freedom to set own goals and choose playstyle, sandbox design shines” · 46 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 81% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Freedom +3.57 · Room to explore, build, and play your own way
Positive “freedom to set own goals and choose playstyle, sandbox design shines” · 46 reviews
Negative “cannot transfer cargo between ships, restricting player freedom” · 4 reviews

Progression 30% · Difficulty 9% · Onboarding 46% · Strategy 25% · Controls & feel 24%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 43% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.28 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “unique experience of traversing 1:1 scale milky way” · 54 reviews
Negative “lacks lore and narrative, world feels dead with no NPC communication or living atmosphere like older games” · 2 reviews

Story 7% · Characters 0%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 44% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +3.47 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “excellent space exploration and diverse playstyles available” · 20 reviews
Negative “content slowed to insane crawl mid-life” · 4 reviews

Variety 30% · Replayability 5%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.03 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “ships feel and sound incredible” · 35 reviews
Negative “graphics not as great as Star Citizen” · 3 reviews

Audio 9%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +2.15 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “organized community and multiplayer create emergent gameplay experiences” · 8 reviews
Negative “co-op broken with bugs and glitches, no fixes despite updates” · 2 reviews

Community 12% · Servers & Connection 3%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 24% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -0.20 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “power creep ships paywalled with real-cash transactions, pay-to-skip gameplay” · 26 reviews
Positive “excellent value at 9.99 euros with expansion during sales” · 5 reviews

Anti-cheat 1% · Balance 6% · Matchmaking 1%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 37% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support -0.27 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Negative “abandoned development, years of waiting, no meaningful fixes or improvements delivered” · 15 reviews
Positive “Vanguards update greatly improved barrier to entry” · 7 reviews

Stability 11% · Performance 8%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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