Frontier Developments has announced it will give a free Steam key to those that purchase Elite: Dangerous from the developer’s online shop, or backed the game on Kickstarter.

Speaking on the studio’s forum, Edward Lewis, a community manager for the developer, said it wanted to accommodate PC players that prefer to use Valve’s Steam platform to play games.

"We always appreciate it when you buy direct from our store because it means we can put more into supporting and developing Elite: Dangerous," he said.

"But we know a number of long-time players and backers like to play through Steam and we think it's fair everyone has that option, not just new players."

Continuing, Lewis added that Frontier has been working with Valve to provide integration between Steam accounts and Frontier accounts.

"Elite: Dangerous runs on Frontier's servers, so we've been working with Valve to give you a way to seamlessly connect your Steam and existing Frontier accounts in a way that's easy. It's coming soon."

According to Lewis, existing owners will be able to generate a Steam code from their Frontier accounts page from May 28.

Elite: Dangerous is already available on Steam for $59.99 (£39.99). The sci-fi space combat and exploration sim was previously only available for purchase through the game's website.

Frontier previously announced a major Elite: Dangerous update called Powerplay, which will add faction gameplay to the space simulator, developer Frontier Developments has announced.