Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous have continuously influenced each other by adopting successful features like ship sales, on-foot exploration, and collaborative events, enhancing their gameplay and player engagement. This mutual inspiration fosters healthy competition and innovation, benefiting the space simulation genre and its community.
The past decade has been a golden era for the space simulation genre, marked by numerous releases, innovations, and the revival of classic franchises. Two standout titles leading this resurgence are Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous. Although these games differ significantly in gameplay, immersion, and scope, they have frequently drawn inspiration from each other to stay relevant and fresh. A recent example is Elite Dangerous’s introduction of the Type 11 ship, often described as a form of “Star Citizenship” within Elite Dangerous, highlighting the ongoing mutual influence between the two.
One clear area of influence is Elite Dangerous adopting Star Citizen’s successful ship sale model. Star Citizen has raised nearly $900 million through selling digital spaceships, marketed as luxury items with a focus on rarity and exclusivity. Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous, has mirrored this strategy by introducing new ship generations and selling them to players, helping maintain the game’s financial viability even after 11 years. Though Elite’s ship sales operate at a lower price point and with fewer features like walkable interiors, this approach has proven effective in sustaining player interest and revenue.
In terms of gameplay design, Elite Dangerous has also embraced features pioneered by Star Citizen. The release of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey introduced on-foot planetary exploration, a significant gameplay shift similar to Star Citizen’s long-standing emphasis on immersive planetary interaction. Additionally, Elite Dangerous recently added colonization mechanics, allowing players to build settlements and revitalize star systems—conceptually akin to Star Citizen’s base-building ambitions. While the scale and complexity differ, these shared features demonstrate how both games explore similar ideas to enhance player engagement.
The influence is reciprocal, with Star Citizen adopting systems inspired by Elite Dangerous. For example, Star Citizen’s “Race for Stenton” event closely resembles Elite Dangerous’s Community Goals, where players collaborate on objectives that impact the game world. Similarly, Star Citizen’s upgrade and engineering mechanics echo Elite Dangerous’s system of gathering resources and delivering them to engineers for ship modifications. Moreover, while Star Citizen pioneered monetizing ship sales, Elite Dangerous was first to embrace selling cosmetic ship paints and kits, a model Star Citizen later adopted with its own high-quality, limited-edition cosmetic offerings.
Ultimately, Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous function as both rivals and reflections of each other, continuously borrowing and adapting features to improve their player experiences. Their parallel evolution—one focusing on simulation-heavy realism, the other on cinematic immersion—illustrates the genre’s creative vitality and health. This ongoing exchange benefits the space sim community, ensuring both games remain dynamic and engaging. Fans of either or both titles can look forward to continued innovation fueled by this friendly competition and mutual inspiration.