«Previous post | Next post»

The Thargoids return in the fifth major update of the Horizons season.

Press release:
Cambridge, UK. 27 September 2017. Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) today launched Elite Dangerous: Horizons 2.4 – The Return, thrusting players into combat against one of gaming’s most fearsome foes. The Elite Dangerous galaxy will never be the same again.

Since 2014 Elite Dangerous players have scoured the vast simulated Milky Way galaxy as tensions between the Empire, Federation and Alliance have risen. With each new discovery of unknown artefacts, probes and relics, players drew another step closer to the return of the Thargoids.

Today humanity’s dreaded enemy will return in an ongoing Elite Dangerous story arc enabled by Elite Dangerous: Horizons 2.4 – The Return, continuing the Horizons season with ongoing story events that will see commanders thrust into battle against the Thargoids for the first time in gaming’s modern age, bringing a new and deadly dynamic to the Elite Dangerous galaxy.

In coming months the Thargoids’ influence will be felt throughout Elite Dangerous, and players will be forced to develop new tactics and technologies of their own to counter the Thargoid menace, or see humanity’s grip on our sectors of the galaxy recede.

About The Thargoids
For gamers of the eighties and nineties, Thargoid history dates back to 1984, when David Braben and Ian Bell created gaming’s original open-world space adventure: Elite. The Thargoids’ eight-sided craft became an iconic threat, challenging even the galaxy’s most Elite commanders.

In the in-game narrative the Thargoid story is a long one, unfolding during the events of Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, as well as in Elite’s extended fiction. Events in Elite Dangerous take place over fifty years since those in Frontier: First Encounters, and today the facts about the Thargoids have been swamped by stories, myths and legends. It has been unclear what is true and what is an elaborate conspiracy theory… Until now.

See the Elite Dangerous Retaliation cinematic, introducing the Thargoid threat, here.

Elite Dangerous: Horizons 2.4 – The Return launches today for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and is included in the Elite Dangerous: Horizons season pass.

About Elite Dangerous
Take control of your own starship in a cutthroat galaxy. Some may know you as an ally; others will call you a pirate, a bounty hunter, a smuggler, an explorer, an assassin, a hero… Fly alone or with friends, fight for a cause or go it alone. Your actions change the galaxy around you in an ever-unfolding story.

Start with a small starship and a handful of credits, and do whatever it takes to earn the skill, knowledge, wealth and power to stand among the ranks of the Elite.

About Frontier
Frontier is the studio behind Jurassic World Evolution, Elite Dangerous, LostWinds and Planet Coaster, founded in 1994 by games industry veteran David Braben. Frontier’s development strengths are immersive and fun gameplay design with unparalleled artistic quality, all enabled by its cutting-edge in-house COBRA game development technology and a talent for getting the best out of hardware and UI.

Elite Dangerous is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Planet Coaster is available now for PC. Jurassic World Evolution is coming Summer 2018. Other Frontier titles include RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Thrillville, LostWinds, Kinectimals, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Zoo Tycoon, Tales from Deep Space and ScreamRide.