Multi-Crew is finally coming to Elite Dangerous: Horizons, as part of the game’s next expansion ( Commanders ), ~18 months after Frontier Developments first hinted at such functionality. We’re still several weeks removed from the Commanders beta, which begins later this month, but the studio isn’t making players wait any longer to learn how Multi-Crew will change the core Elite Dangerous experience when it goes live.
In a new forum post, Elite Dangerous Senior Community Manager Ed Lewis finally began to break down some of the features we’ll see when the next Elite Dangerous: Horizons expansion makes its long-awaited debut. When the Multi-Crew system goes live, players will be able to directly invite friends to join their ship’s crew or even pull in recruits using a new “Looking For Ship” feature debuting in The Commanders. You’ll want to make sure your current ship is parked somewhere safe before departing for another chair though.
The ship’s owner will remains responsible for piloting the vessel, relaying orders to any allied NPC fighter ships and distributing power between the engines, systems and weapons. One member of the crew fills the role of gunner, gaining access to a special interface that makes it easier to use multiple weapon batteries in unison. The other member of your trio can step into a ship-launched fighter, even if the pilot already launched the only fighter in the bay. Crewmembers also receive a bonus power pip that they can assign/reassign at will.
For more information on the contents of Elite Dangerous: The Commanders, which enters beta the last week of February, including the new Multi-Crew system and Commander Creator, check out the recent update from Ed Lewis. Then head down to the comments section and let us know if the arrival of Multi-Crew -- not to mention the recent alien sightings -- will be enough to get you playing Elite Dangerous again.
Elite Dangerous is currently available on PC and Xbox One. The game’s next expansion, The Commanders, is expected to emerge in the next few months. Elite Dangerous is also expected to make the jump to PlayStation 4 in 2017.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes and follow Scott on Twitter for more Elite Dangerous news throughout 2017 and however long Frontier supports Elite Dangerous in the years ahead.
