Background Simulation

Elite: Dangerous will involve a dynamic background simulation, reflecting the evolution of the known galaxy in response to players' behaviour.

Star systems will, as in previous Elite games, differ in their forms of government, local laws, and economies. However,  both regular player activity - for instance, trading or piracy - and also special missions will affect how these develop over time. Pirate activity, for instance, will lower the security level in the system and prompt its government to issue missions to counter the pirate threat; in extreme circumstances this might prompt a visit from a capital ship. Trading will affect the standard of living and wealth of the population, as well as prices which depend on temporary gluts and shortages.

The dynamic universe will be experienced in multiplayer and single-player modes, though single-player play will also be possible in an entirely offline mode where the universe does not develop at all.