Elite: Dangerous dev diary shows multiplayer footage

In the latest update for the Elite: Dangerous Kickstarter campaign, Frontier Developments have released a video showing off the game's multiplayer component. Sort of. It's not the most action-packed preview, featuring a ship chasing David Braben around an asteroid field for five minutes. Spoiler: at the end, he crashes. More exciting is the information Braben gives over the top of the video, detailing the features the team plan to add to the game.

For starters you'll be able to choose just how dangerous your corner of space will be. Matchmaking settings will let you play solo, with a group of friends or in a free-for-all against everyone else looking for the same. The video also explains how the damage system will work. Ship destruction will be localised to specific areas, meaning damaged ships can be spewing out debris and cargo, but will still be able to limp away and repair. Finally, Braben oulines the heat generation system, saying that fancy manoeuvres will generate more heat, causing the player to show brighter on the radar of other ships.

The update also introduces a new funding tier, presumably in a bid to push the Kickstarter over the less-than-stellar total of £585,500 and towards its £1.25 million goal. The writer's pack will allow backers to spend £4,500 to essentially insert their Elite fiction into the game. Let today go down in history as the day we all learned that Elite fanfiction was a thing. PCGamesN have already spotted a separate Kickstarter by one Elite fan hoping to raise the money to add his novel to the game. Rumour has it that if someone starts another Kickstarter project to back the project that's hoping to back the Elite project, Kickstarter itself will implode.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.