Star Citizen is free to play until the end of November

Star Citizen is free to play from now until the end of the month.

As part of the in-game annual Intergalactic Aerospace Expo (IAE), players are welcome to “freely test-fly” 120+ ships, including the Drake Corsair which supports a crew of up to four players and boasts living quarters and “strong armaments”.

Players will be able to “explore the digital event as they would any convention, from strolling through fully interactive expo halls and seeing the latest ships on display each day in incredible detail, to meeting up with friends to explore and partake in exciting activities, or chance encounters with strangers that launch new friendships”.

“Get ready for the biggest, best Whitley’s Guide IAE Special you’ve ever seen!” developer Cloud Imperium Games teases. “It’s going to be full of exclusive looks, new vehicles, a special appearance by Drake CEO Anden Arden, and so much more. This year we won’t be leaving anything out. Don’t miss it!”

Drake Interplanetary, Anvil Aerospace, and Roberts Space Industries will also be revealing new vehicles throughout IAE 2952 “as they take to the show floor”, whilst from 27th November, players can “look forward to rewards from this year’s Ship Showdown competition”.

The final four – The Carrack, Mercury, C8X Pisces Expedition, and Scorpius – will “all receive limited-edition paint options”, too, as well as limited-time manufacturer challenge coins.

If you’re curious and fancy stopping by, you can sign up right here and give it a try for free until 30th November.

Star Citizen has now raised more than half a billion dollars in funding from backers. As Matt recently summarised for us, its exceedingly lengthy development is well-documented with the game still in alpha over a decade after production began. And while it’s attracted some private funding in that time, the overwhelming bulk has come via crowdfunding, beginning with a successful $2m USD Kickstarter in 2012 and ballooning from there.

In September 2022, Star Citizen hit a milestone of $500,075,150 USD in crowdfunding. Its previous major milestone of $400m USD raised was reached this time last year, meaning it’s taken a further ten months to accrue an additional $100m.