Elite: Dangerous players make first contact with aliens, and holy hell it's cool

Space sim Elite: Dangerous has been available for PC since December 2014, and Xbox One since October 2015. But it's only now, many moons later, that players have made first contact with alien lifeforms - and the reveal is, frankly speaking, pretty dang cool. Keep in mind that the developers did not announce or hype this event up, so the person recording this had no idea what was about to befall them:

For those who don't play Elite and thus might not be aware of what's happening, the player recording this footage was pulled out of hyperspace (which, in-universe, should be impossible), only to come face to… uh, tentacle, with the alien ship. The ship makes some intimidating noise, flashes its lights, and then departs.

It's a pretty neat and dramatic event for players who've been zipping around Elite's galaxy for years with no sign of alien life to suddenly have one appear before them in such a way, and the mystery of why and why now are tantalizing indeed. In any case, this seems to be the extent of player interaction with aliens for now, but I'm pretty sure those creatures will be back, and I don't think they're looking to make friends. Prepare accordingly.

Seen something newsworthy? Tell us

Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.