Elite Dangerous Release History

The key releases for Elite Dangerous are listed here - this is not an exhaustive list but does show some of the major releases and when they happened.

You might also be interested in looking at the different editions, extensions and packs for Elite Dangerous that have been made available.

Original public release was on 20th December 2013. The original alpha had multiple updates following this first release that added major game elements:

• 5th Februray 2014 (version 2) - multiplayer combat added.
• 13th March 2014 (version 3) - docking & outfitting added.
• 17th March 2014 (version 3.1) - updates to docking & outfitting.
• 1st April 2014 (version 3.4) - incremental bug fixes.
• 15th May 2014 (version 4.0) - trading & exploration; introduced hyperspace, super cruise and galactic map.
• 16th May 2014 (version 4.1) - incremental bug fixes.
• 20th May 2014 (version 4.02 & 4.03)- incremental bug fixes.

• 10th April 2014 (Combat 1.0) - the same scenarios as made available to Alpha backers at 2.0, but with added improvements & fixes, and no multiplayer.
• 30th May 2014 (version 1) - initial release of Premium Beta.
• 24th June 2014 (version 2) - added additional game content (systems & ships) & incremental bug fixes.
• 26th June 2014 (version 2.01) - incremental bug fixes.
• 27th June 2014 (version 2.02) - incremental bug fixes.

• 8th July 2014 (Combat 1.00) - the same scenarios as made available to Alpha backers at 2.0, but with added improvements & fixes, and no multiplayer.
• 29th July 2014 (version 1.0) - full open game play (online & solo) as per previous releases; added fuel, docking computer, Viper & Lakon Type 6 ships, missions, P2P comms, crime & fines, trade route map in galaxy view, friend/group management and increased galaxy size to 55 stars (up from 8 in Private Beta 2.02).
• 30th July 2014 (version 1.01) - custom paint jobs & incremental bug fixes.
• 31st July 2014 (version 1.02) - incremental bug fixes.
• 1st August 2014 (version 1.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 3rd September 2014 (version 1.04) - incremental bug fixes & national flag paint jobs.
• 16th September 2014 (version 1.05 & 1.06) - 1.05 was incremental bug fixes, 1.06 addressed specific issue with loading with a Cobra.
• 30th September 2014 (version 2.0 + full wipe) - major update including rank and reputation, exploration, system maps, ship wear & tear, more equipment classes, outposts and Ocellus stations, new weapons, galactic news-feeds, the Asp Explorer, changes of the Combat missions into tutorial missions, SLI-graphics support, graphics improvements, large prices increases for larger ships, and increased galaxy size up to around 500 (up from 55 in Beta 1.0x) .
• 1st October 2014 (version 2.01 & 2.02) - incremental bug fixes.
• 2nd October 2014 (version 2.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 3rd October 2014 (version 2.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 9th October 2014 (version 2.05) - incremental bug fixes.
• 14th October 2014 (version 2.06) - incremental bug fixes.
• 28th October 2014 (version 3.0 + partial wipe) - major update including player-initiated interdictions, Federal Dropship and Imperial Clipper ships, fuel-scooping from stars, mining asteroids, multiple ship ownership, graphics improvements to planets, a philanthropy mission type, galaxy map improvements, and increased galaxy size up to 2400+ systems (up from 500 systems in Beta 2.0x).
• 30th October 2014 (version 3.01 & 3.02) - incremental bug fixes.
• 31st October 2014 (version 3.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 6th November 2014 (version 3.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 11th November 2014 (version 3.05) - incremental bug fixes.
• 20th November 2014 (version 3.9) - Rank and reputation improvements, overhaul to galaxy map and ship-outfitting, and a large number of incremental bug fixes.
• 21st November 2014 (version 3.91) - incremental bug fixes.

The “Gamma” phase is the final stage of releases before a full public release and concludes the “beta testing” stage. Although it contains some new content over the betas, the Gamma phase is the final fit-and-finish stage where outstanding bugs and issues were resolved prior to the full public launch.

• 22nd November 2014 (version 1.0 + full wipe) - Introduced Python and Orca ships, 400 billion systems now visitable (including Sol), and KickStarter ships & locations are now available.
• 24th November 2014 (version 1.01) - incremental bug fixes.
• 26th November 2014 (version 1.02) - incremental bug fixes.
• 27th November 2014 (version 1.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 28th November 2014 (version 1.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 2nd December 2014 (version 1.05) - incremental bug fixes.
• 10th December 2014 (version 2.00) - added Lakon Type 7 & Adder ships, galactic route planner, new mission & commodity types, large number of tweaks and incremental bug fixes.
• 11th December 2014 (version 2.01 & 2.02) - incremental bug fixes.
• 12th December 2014 (version 2.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 13th December 2014 (version 2.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 14th December 2014 (version 2.05) - incremental bug fixes.
• 15th December 2014 (version 2.06 & 2.07) - incremental bug fixes.

The full retail release was made on 16th December 2015 after 10 months of play-testing by Kickstarter players.

There was no progress/credits/equipment/location wipe for the retail release, meaning those players who had been playing in the Gamma phase had a head-start in the retail phase of the game.

• 16th December 2014 12:00 GMT (version 1.0.0.0) - Initial retail release; incremental bug fixes over the final Gamma release (no new game content)
• 16th December 2014 12:10 GMT (still version 1.0.0.0) - removed the “GAMMA” message that was present on the menu screen without bumping the version number.
• 17th December 2014 (version 1.01) - incremental bug fixes, also removed the version number from bottom right of game screen.
• 18th December 2014 (version 1.02) - incremental bug fixes & balancing changes for exploration payouts and rare goods supply.
• 19th December 2014 (version 1.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 8th January 2015 (version 1.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 15th January 2015 (version 1.05) - incremental bug fixes.
• 22nd January 2015 (version 1.06) - incremental bug fixes.
• 28th January 2015 (version 1.07) - incremental bug fixes.

This was the first major non-paid expansion for the game that introduced enhanced exploration features & community goals as well as a range of visual enhancements and bug fixes.

• 3rd February 2015 (beta 1) - tests missile balance changes (speed, damage), friendly fire changes (accidental hits of non-targeted ships/hits that cause no hull damage/single-hits may not result in turning a ship hostile & high-standing increases the thresholds), community goals, exploration/discovery changes (route planer up to 1000Ly, bulk-sell of exploration data, filter non-scoopable stars on map), docking changes (cant dock at hostile station, docking computer & AI improvements), collision damage changes, and Orbis station movement.
• 5th February 2015 (beta 2) - incremental bug fixes.
• 6th February 2015 (beta 3) - incremental bug fixes.
• 10th February 2015 Retail 1.1 & 1.1.01 - full release of features tested during beta.
• 11th February 2015 (version 1.1.02) - 2.5% discount at shipyards & outfitters for Elite-ranked players and “Founder”-level backers, incremental bug fixes.
• 12th February 2015 (version 1.1.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 13th February 2015 (version 1.1.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 19th February 2015 (version 1.1.05) - incremental bug fixes.
• 5th March 2015 (version 1.1.06) - incremental bug fixes.

The “Wings” update - wings adds minor & insignificant multiplayer tweaks.

• 3rd March 2015 (beta 1) - added Fer-de-Lance and Vulture ships, added basic external camera, added minor multi-player tweaks.
• 4th March 2015 (beta 2) - incremental bug fixes.
• 6th March 2015 (beta 3) - incremental bug fixes.
• 9th March 2015 (beta 4) - incremental bug fixes.
• 10th March 2015 Retail 1.2.00 - full release of features tested during beta.
• 11th March 2015 (version 1.2.01 & 1.2.02) - incremental bug fixes, fuel cost for all ships now “flattened”.
• 12th March 2015 (version 1.2.03) - incremental bug fixes, reduced prices of Fer-de-Lance, Vulture and Federal Drop Ships, increased payout levels for bounty hunting & exploration.
• 13th March 2015 (version 1.2.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 18th March 2015 (version 1.2.05) - incremental bug fixes, smaller ships are less likely to be detected smuggling.
• 25th March 2015 (version 1.2.06) - incremental bug fixes.
• 10th April 2015 (version 1.2.07) - incremental bug fixes.

The “Powerplay” update - adds drones, bounty payment changes, and two ships. Also added large “powers” to the galaxy.

• 5th June 2015 (version 1.3.0) - adds Diamondback & Imperial Courier ships and drones.
• 6th June 2015 (version 1.3.01) - incremental bug fixes.
• 10th June 2015 (version 1.3.02) - incremental bug fixes.
• 12th June 2015 (version 1.3.03) - incremental bug fixes.
• 16th June 2015 (version 1.3.04) - incremental bug fixes.
• 18th June 2015 (version 1.3.05) - incremental bug fixes.
• 25th June 2015 (version 1.3.06) - incremental bug fixes.
• 2nd June 2015 (version 1.3.07) - incremental bug fixes. Note that Frontier Developments announced that after this release they would try to be less iterative (i.e. reduce the frequency of their bug-fix releases) and slow their release cycle down into few, larger releases to avoid problems with releases/regressions.
• 5th Aug 2015 (version 1.3.08) - incremental bug fixes.

This is a release of the CQC content in an “early access” format for XBox One “Game Preview Program” only.

• 15th June 2015 - initial release.

The “CQC” update.

N.B. Frontier ran an “stress test” during the beta stage that allowed for anyone who already owned the game to take part in the beta (normally it would only be customers that had the beta pass). During this phase they had a somewhat flexible naming convention, starting with “stress test 1”, then going to normal “X.Y.Z” format, then back to “X.Y Gamma Z”

• 1st Sept 2015 (beta 1) - adds CQC, Imperial Eagle, Federal Gunship, Federal Assault Ship, Hazardous Resource Extraction Sites, Compromised Nav Beacons, legal salvage missions, tweaks to how damage to powerplants is handled.
• 2nd Sept 2015 (beta 2) - incremental bug fixes.
• 7th Sept 2015 (beta 3) - incremental bug fixes.
• 10th Sept 2015 (beta 4) - incremental bug fixes.
• 14th Sept 2015 (beta 5) - incremental bug fixes.
• 15th Sept 2015 (stress test 1) - open stress test to all Elite Dangerous players (including those without beta access)
• 17th Sept 2015 (1.4.2) - incremental updates to “stress test 1”
• 23rd Sept 2015 (1.4 Gamma 3) - incremental updates to “1.4.2”
• 30th Sept 2015 (1.4 Gamma 4) - incremental bug fixes.
• 6th Oct 2015 (1.4.00) - full release of features tested during beta.
• 21st Oct 2015 (1.4.01) - incremental bug fixes.

The “Ships” update.

• 13th Nov 2015 (beta 1) - Adds Asp Scout, Viper Mk IV, Federal Corvette, Imperial Cutter, and Keelback ships. Also adds new mission types and variety.
• 14th Nov 2015 (beta 2) - incremental bug fixes.
• 17th Nov 2015 (beta 3) - incremental bug fixes.