Is Elite Dangerous worth playing in 2025? The new roadmap shows it's only getting better
2025 may be the best time to jump into Elite Dangerous. New updates, features, and fresh content are on the way.
Like No Man’s Sky, Elite Dangerous had a rough launch and didn’t immediately take off. It found its audience among space sim fans who loved its deep, open-world gameplay, but it also got some flak for being hard to learn, lacking variety early on, and leaning too much on multiplayer without much structured storytelling. Over time, though, expansions like Horizons and Odyssey and a ton of updates helped it grow. Now, over a decade later, it’s seen as one of the best space sims out there – more of a long-term success than an overnight sensation. But is it worth playing in 2025?
Elite Dangerous’ long journey: A decade of growth and what’s next
The last time Elite Dangerous saw a big spike in concurrent players was back in 2021 with the Odyssey expansion, which brought on-foot gameplay, first-person combat, settlements, and more detailed atmospheric planets. But Odyssey had a rough launch, with technical issues leading to a mixed reception.
Now, though, the game seems to getting some traction again, and that's likely thanks to a recent Steam discount and the Trailblazers update, which dropped on February 26. This update, still in beta, introduced System Colonization, letting players expand humanity’s reach across the Milky Way.
Source: Frontier Developments
But the best is still to come. The dev team recently shared the 2025 roadmap, and it looks like they still have some big plans for Elite Dangerous. The year is split into several phases, with Trailblazers being just the start. Up next, we’re getting The Corsair ship (which fans are already discussing and tweaking in fan art) – plus even more ships and new features on the way.
Elite Dangerous is a great example of a dev team that’s truly dedicated to their game, they don’t give up and clearly believe in their project.
