Elite co-creator plans to resurrect series with Dangerous Kickstarter
Elite co-creator David Braben is the latest grandfather of space sims to turn to Kickstarter, with plans to resurrect the classic series through new game Dangerous. Braben set up a minimum of £1.25 million (roughly $2 million) in funding to launch Elite: Dangerous, but is hoping for more so his team at UK-based Frontier Developments can be "more ambitious with content and platforms." As it stands, Frontier plans to release Elite: Dangerous on PC in March 2014.
If Dangerous does arrive then, it will have been almost three decades since Elite left its indelible mark on gaming back in 1984. Two true sequels were released: Frontier: Elite in 1993 and Frontier: First Encounters in 1995. Braben has headed Frontier Developments since then, a studio more recently known for Kinectimals and LostWinds.
As Braben notes on the Kickstarter page, Frontier diced with trying to make the fourth Elite game, including developing it as a MMO back in 2000. It's been on the backburner at the British studio for a few years now, but going by the six figures raised in a matter of hours it's likely Elite: Dangerous marks the return of one of gaming's most venerable names.
