Elite Dangerous developer announced plans to sell ships for real money – gamers are unhappy

Frontier, the developer of space simulator Elite Dangerous, has announced a significant change to the game: selling ships for real money. The company will be selling three months of early access to the Python Mk II ship for premium in-game currency ARX, which can be purchased with real money. Specifically, Python Mk II releases on May 7th and will be available for 16,250 ARX. For comparison, 16800 ARX can be purchased for $13.

The announcement angered many Elite Dangerous veterans, some of whom accused Frontier of profit-seeking and compared the situation to Star Citizen. While players will still be able to earn ARX in-game, the ability to purchase the currency with real money and use it to gain early access to new ships has sparked accusations of a pay-to-win system.

Some players point to Frontier’s 2019 statement, which stated that ARX would only be used to purchase cosmetic add-ons and would not be used to introduce pay-to-win purchases. Frontier will likely dispute these allegations, citing the fact that ARX can be obtained through gameplay, as game developers often do with similar systems.

Frontier has struggled in recent years after a number of games failed to live up to projections. The company also suffered a wave of layoffs. However, the developer said game sales have been in line with expectations since January, and the recent release of Planet Zoo on consoles showed high player engagement. Frontier has confirmed plans to release three future creative simulation (CMS) games over the next three financial years, and will continue to develop and support its existing portfolio of games, including Elite Dangerous, F1 Manager and Realms of Ruin.