SpaceSimCentral

40+ years later the Atair 8bit computer gets a version of Elite, can be run on real hardware or emulator and has a demo of the game out now.
[url]https://forums.atariage.com/topic/385615-elite-ported-from-the-bbc-micro-disk-version-to-the-atari-8-bit-second-demo-release/[/url]
I have read in the past the reason why the Atari never got a version back in the day was because the programmer hire for the job did a runner.

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I have read in the past the reason why the Atari never got a version back in the day was because the programmer hire for the job did a runner.
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Interesting! I hadn't heard that. Do you have any other details?
I found this other thread on atari age but it doesn't talk about the past. Instead they discuss how they only play Elite with a joystick! That seems wrong to me but it would probably play on an atari joystick quite well

The quote is from an early issue of retro gamer magazine and their first Elite article. It is the only reference I have ever seen as to why the Atari 8bits never got a version of the game.
Used a joystick all the time with Elite only used the keyboard when docked.