Hi everyone,

The E3 team seem to have brought the weather back with them and we’re enjoying some rare sunshine here in the UK! A new point release for Powerplay (1.3.07) is coming early next week, which addresses various issues – including a hot topic for pirates by increasing the limit on dumped cargo canisters in deep space. As always we’ll continue to look into outstanding issues – in particular we’re investigating some abnormal stuttering on some people’s machines.

As announced at E3 we have a new game mode coming to Elite Dangerous with CQC Championship. This multiplayer arena style combat uses specialised ships for quick dip in and out combat. The ships in CQC Championship are separate from the ships you own in the main game and there is no penalty for destruction in the same way as in the main game. Naturally this mode will feed into the main game and we’re considering it as another career role that players can take part in. Within CQC Championship there are two paths of progression.

The first is integral to CQC Championship itself and provides a ladder of upgrades and prestige as you rise through the ranks. Players earn experience by completing various actions in matches (such as kills or assists) and so progressing through the ranks. Different ranks will unlock ships, equipment and abilities and once the top rank is reached then it is possible to wrap around to further increase your status.

The second and parallel path connects with the main game with its equivalent of the Pilots Federation ranks. Players can also earn credits with the matches which are then available in the main game. As it is structured event outside of the normal flow of play it makes it easy to partake and a boon for explorers who are often thousands of light years away from civilization!

As I mentioned in my last update the development of the Xbox version provides a range of benefits for the PC and Mac build beyond the addition of CQC Championship. We are currently planning a trunk release for the PC and Mac version which contains the many optimisations, fixes and improvements from the Xbox development before the Xbox release. As already announced CQC Championship will release on Xbox One first and will come to PC and Mac in a free update later on. Note that this build isn’t the announcement that David has already mentioned that is coming at Gamescom. I’d love to be the one announcing that as it’s pretty cool!

Thanks!

Michael