In a highly controversial decision developer Frontier has made the decision to allow players to buy ships with real money in their long running game Elite: Dangerous, sparking outrage amongst the community.

According to the blog post players can buy the latest Python MX II for 16,250 ARX, which is the in game currency. You can buy 16,800 ARX for $12.99.

Players will also be able to buy pre-built packages which are ships that have been “significantly upgraded” from their base model. The idea behind making these ships available according to Frontier is to make Elite Dangerous more access to new players.

“We envision these Pre-built Ships to be a quicker way for newer players to get involved in the areas they have the most interest in, or for our existing players who are considering a new career path in game, but do not have time to devote to a new build from scratch.”

While some understand the decision due to the nature of the game, which takes quite a lot of grinding at the start in order to join the fight, others are frustrated by the decision.

Either way it is certain to cause quite the discussion in the coming days as pay to win elements are a hot topic in competitive games.