Elite Dangerous Spins Off Competitive Arena Mode as Standalone Release

There's a lot more to Elite Dangerous than just shooting ships, but if you want to jump straight into the action, then there's something brand new just for you. Elite Dangerous: Arena is a new standalone mode where you can jump into intergalactic dogfights with other players.

Elite Dangerous: Arena launched today and it's available for free to all Elite Dangerous owners via the title menu--if you buy Elite Dangerous, you get Arena for free. If you want to start with the standalone Arena, you'll get a discount if you choose to purchase Elite Dangerous at a later date--the price you paid for Arena will be deducted from Elite Dangerous. Arena's current price is $7.49.

The dogfighting mode features four ships, unlockable custom loadouts, and four maps. The maps include a cavernous space station, a mining facility, and a frozen asteroid belt. Each map can host up to eight players in games of Free for All, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag.

Elite Dangerous is available on Xbox One, but this standalone mode is only on PC. The system requirements are exactly the same as Elite Dangerous. If you're wondering if you can run it, you can check out the requirements below:

Minimum PC System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7, Windows 8
• Processor: Quad Core CPU (4 x 2Ghz)
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GTX 260 / ATI 4870HD
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 7 GB available space

Recommended PC System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7, Windows 8
• Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K Quad Core CPU or better / AMD FX 4350 Quad Core CPU or better
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GTX 770 / AMD Radeon R9 280X
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 7 GB available space