Elite Dangerous is free next week on the Epic Games Store

Big things are happening in developer Frontier's long-running space sim Elite Dangerous next year - big leg-related things - and if you'd like to get in on the intergalactic jet-setting action well in advance, you can grab the game for free next week, courtesy of the Epic Store.

Elite Dangerous is, of course, the latest instalment in Frontier's long-running space sim series - the original having launched all the way back in 1984 - and sets wannabe spacefarers loose in a massively multiplayer version of our very own Milky Way, complete with a shifting economy, warring factions, and even the odd alien menace.

The goal, such as it is in Frontier's galaxy spanning sandbox, is to start with a small ship and a smattering of credits, then work your way to the big time - forging a name for yourself and racking up the cash to purchase ever-more exotic (and fully customisable) ships - through the likes of trading, battling, piracy, exploration, mining, and, yes, relentless grind.

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