As part of the journey towards to upcoming Odyssey expansion, the only paid expansion for Elite Dangerous (Horizons) has now become a free add-on. It may not mean a huge amount to some players but what it does as a whole is ensure everyone is running off a new baseline for the game as the expansion introduced planetary landings, the SRV and even included an exclusive ship in the Cobra Mk IV. Players who already own the expansion will receive an exclusive Azure paint job for their ships.

It’s amazing to think that Horizons is five years old and an argument could be made that this change was long overdue seeing as how integral it is to having a “complete experience”. I think the developers probably planned on there being a lot more paid expansions for the game but plans changed over time and the focus moved to improving the core game which has undergone a number of revisions and even brought the alien Thargoids back into the game.

For anyone who previously dabbled in the game it’s worth checking out Horizons and take an SRV for a spin. Hopefully it’ll be a taste of what’s to come in Odyssey when you’ll finally get boots on the ground and you’ll come back again when the new paid expansion arrives next year.

Elite Dangerous is out now for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.