"Elite Dangerous: Arena is free on PC for a limited time only – download now and play anytime! Offer ends 11th July 2016."
According to their blog:
Today we are very excited to announce the launch of a new stand-alone product, Elite Dangerous: Arena. Arena is the PVP mode already in Elite Dangerous so all players who own Elite Dangerous or Elite Dangerous: Horizons will already have access to it. Simply select Arena (previously labelled CQC) from the in-game main menu to play.
However, we believe Elite Dangerous: Arena is a compelling game in its own right and want to offer it to players whose main goal is to play fast paced PVP space combat action. This will open Elite Dangerous to a whole new group of players, all of whom you can play against in the Close Quarter Combat Championships (CQC) in Arena mode in Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous: Horizons. So if you haven’t played CQC already we have a number of challenges starting today that you can join in with.
Elite Dangerous: Arena is available to new players right now on our store and on steam for £4.99/$7.49.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/4rpp1l/steam_eli…
You just beat me in posting this. It should make the front page when everyone wakes up.
The main game is full price though, $30 US.