Elite: Dangerous Update to Feature Return of the Thargoids

Earlier today, Elite: Dangerous developer Frontier Developments announced the next expansion in the Elite: Dangerous Horizons season. Dubbed Elite: Dangerous Horizons 2.4 – The Return, this update will feature the long-teased arrival of the dangerous Thargoids.

David Braben, CEO of Frontier Developments and co-creator of the original Elite says: 

“‘The Return’ will be a dramatic ongoing event for the Elite Dangerous galaxy. Story events have hinted at the Thargoids’ return for a long time, but the Thargoids are returning at a moment when humanity is at its most divided. The Federation and Empire are at each other’s throats, a second tiny human-occupied bubble has scattered humanity’s greatest pilots, and Thargoid scout ships are drawing near. They have already probed our space, infiltrated our starports, and found humanity to be vulnerable. What happens next will be decided by every Elite Dangerous player.”

Originally appearing in 1984’s Elite, a game often touted as the original open-world game, the Thargoids are a mysterious, aggressive, and above all dangerous alien race. Among the deadliest enemies in the original game, the Thargoid ships were displayed as simple hexagons, but that was over 30 years ago. Now they look like this:

The Thargoids’ arrival into the Elite: Dangerous galaxy had been teased since earlier this year, when a player reported being forcibly pulled from hyperspace (a feat previously believed to be impossible) and attacked by a strange, flower-like spaceship. Fans were quick to draw comparisons between this mysterious ship and the Thargoids of older games. Since then, players have found strange structures in the game’s massive open-world galaxy similar in style to the mysterious ship, further fueling speculation that the Thargoids would soon be upon the galaxy. 

Though a specific release date for the expansion was not given, Frontier Developments did confirm that Elite Dangerous: Horizons 2.4 – The Return will launch on all platforms in Q3 2017.

Elite: Dangerous is currently available on both PC and Xbox One, and it will release on the PlayStation 4 on June 27th. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Elite: Dangerous news and guides.