Frontier wipes credit of Elite: Dangerous 'billionaire' badboys

What you gonna do when they come for you

Players of the game Elite: Dangerous who were made overnight "billionaires" due to a credit refund glitch will get their "winnings" wiped, the game's maker, Frontier Developments, has said.

Initially the company offered the affected "commanders" a choice over whether they kept their loot or had their credit reset in order to continue competing. But some disgruntled gamers complained that the decision was leading to anti-social behaviour, as billionaires felt they could act with impunity and take the hit of any virtual fines.

"In light of this (and after much deliberation) we have decided to remove all credits, assets and gains from these commanders to balance the playing field.

"We shall be contacting the affected commanders directly to reflect this change in our decision," said Frontier Developments in a forum statement.

Last year Frontier cancelled a promised offline mode, angering some users who'd funded the game after a Kickstarter campaign promising that experience.

Frontier Developments added it has patched a number of exploits to avoid further abuse. "We have also updated our code of conduct to be completely clear on our stance on cheating, abusing exploits and hacking," it said. ®