Elite Dangerous: Arena Out Now

Hoping to bring in players who are only interested in PVP, Elite Dangerous: Arena has launched today alongside a rebranding inside the main title. If you already own the main game, this is free of charge, and available in the main menu where CQC used to be.

For those not in the know, Arena allows players to enter the... arena... in smaller combat-ready ships to destroy each other for fun and profit. It's perfect for those who don't want the larger universe, and just the instant action of lasers.

To celebrate the launch of Arena, Frontier are holding a few events -- one of which will allow you to win honest-to-goodness prizes! There will be a livestream on their YouTube channel starting about the same time you can read this (6pm GMT), a series of streaming events called CQC Mayhem, and finally The Gladiators Challenge.

During the first four weeks after the launch of Arena (16 February – 15 March), three named accounts beginning with ‘FDEV’ will be playing CQC on an ad hoc, but regular, basis. If you manage to get in a game with them, and take a screenshot, you will be entered into a prize draw. There will be 5 amazing prizes up for grabs in the draw including...

2 x Premium Elite Dangerous goodie bags, including a cap, a beanie, three faction mugs, signed artworkEvery paint job in the Elite Dangerous store is also up for grabs.
2 x Elite Dangerous: Horizons Season passes.
1 x Every paint job in the Elite Dangerous store!

The draw will be done on March 16.

This release has come not far behind Frontier shifting their Steam entries around. Elite Dangerous: Horizons used to have its own stand alone entry, however it has now been moved into a more appropriate DLC category to the main Elite: Dangerous title. This has been to avoid confusion, as the main title has always been required to use Horizons, which was not obvious.

Arena, however, is a completely stand-alone product and no other titles are required if you wish to only play this £4.99 / $7.99 title.