A PC open beta for the Elite Dangerous: Beyond update is slated for Jan. 25. The beta announcement was made in a new trailer that also revealed what new content players can expect. The pervious Elite Dangerous: Horizons paid expansion offered the series some large and important additions to the game’s universe. This time, the Beyond free update is split into four chapters. The upcoming open beta will preview Chapter One.
Chapter One introduces Wing missions that can be tackled by a fleet of up to four Commanders, with all players sharing the spoils of victory when complete. It also brings the Chieftain ship, a brand new Alliance spacecraft from Lakon Spaceways. Frontier describes it as particularly maneuverable and scrappy, and “can more than hold its own in a fight.”
The first chapter will also bring GalNet Audio into the fold, which allows headlines from Elite’s news service to be read to players during flights, which will help players better understand the game's overarching narrative. GalNet Audio takes on a form similar to audio logs found in games so that players don’t need to pore over text to fill in the gaps of certain game plots and can instead sit back and listen to them as you explore.
There’s also an entire set of visual alterations coming to Elite Dangerous that will significantly change up the seemingly endless barrage of beige planets out there in the vastness of space. Things should look a lot more interesting from here on out, and there are a series of surface improvements expected by the end of 2018.
If you’re interested to see what all Elite Dangerous' Beyond's Chapter One brings to the table, be sure to participate in the open beta on Thursday, Jan. 25.
