The Elite: Dangerous online-only saga ends in refunds

Frontier Developments announced last week that its upcoming Elite: Dangerous will no longer have an offline mode, even for the single player -- and this has not gone down well with its Kickstarter backers. In fact the backlash has been so severe that Frontier's David Braben has now started offering refunds to those people who have preordered the game... well, as long as you haven't played the alpha or the beta. Last week, Braben revealed that the online aspects had become too fundamental to the core Elite: Dangerous experience, and featuring an offline mode would limit what was possible with the game. As such, the company said it will no longer offer an offline mode, despite previously saying it would as part of the Kickstarter. Now Braben has responded to the outcry from players, stating, "It is a creative decision, not wanting to produce an empty game. It is technically possible, but it would be a largely separate game development. We will review the decision after release, but our priority is moving the game forwards for the great majority of players, and are wary of producing a sub-standard game." For those players asking for refunds, Braben says that people who have pre-ordered the game via the Frontier website can receive a refund. However he adds, "Those who have already been playing the game online in the Alpha and/or Beta phases, regardless of whether they backed the project via Kickstarter or purchased access to Alpha and/or Beta through our online store, are not eligible for a refund." He does not mention whether those people who backed the Kickstarter, but did not receive alpha/beta access, will also be offered refunds.