A new trailer for The Return, the last Elite Dangerous expansion included with purchase of the Horizons Season Pass, was published by Frontier Developments on Friday. But most fans will be disappointed to learn the video doesn’t include a specific launch timeline for the expansion or any gameplay previews of humanity’s upcoming war with the Thargoids.
The new teaser will be far more interesting for anyone who missed out on the Elite Dangerous community’s search for hundreds of mysterious Thargoid facilities during June and July. Players have known something was up in the Milky Way for months, dating back to the first round of mysterious interdictions in January , but things didn’t really ramp up until Frontier announced The Return at E3 2017. Since then, Elite Dangerous players have spotted Thargoid ships interacting with the barnacles found on some planets and uncovered more than 200 unidentified Thargoid facilities . The smattering of new interactions that each addition brought to the game are all that we see in the latest teaser for The Return.
Those familiar with Frontier’s marketing strategies probably aren’t surprised we didn’t get to see human and Thargoid capital ships going head-to-head. The studio avoids spoilers where it can, particularly for events it believes are better experienced than seen. But it’s disappointing that we still don’t have a timeline for the next expansion. Exploring the galaxy is fun, but we can’t be the only ones ready to see some new activities in the game.
If you haven’t already, take a minute to watch the Elite Dangerous: Horizons - The Return teaser trailer that debuted on Friday (embedded up top). Then head down to the comments and let us know if you’re looking forward to fighting the Thargoids in the next Elite Dangerous expansion.
Elite Dangerous is currently available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. The game’s next expansion, The Return, is expected to debut before the end of Q3 2017.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Elite Dangerous news in 2017 and however long Frontier supports Elite Dangerous in the years ahead.
