What is Star Citizen?

Star Citizen is an ambitious, crowdfunded space game for PC: a single seamless universe where you fly ships, walk around inside them, land on planets, and make a living however you like. It is playable now as an alpha, currently Alpha 4.10.1. Here is the plain-English version.

What it actually is

• A first-person space sim. Pilot ships from a cockpit, then get up and walk through your ship, a station, or a city, all with no loading screens between space and ground.
• A persistent online universe. You share the world with other players: trade, mine, salvage, hunt bounties, haul cargo, explore, or team up and crew a big ship together.
• Plus a separate single-player game. Squadron 42 is a story campaign set in the same universe, sold separately. More on that.
• Still in development. It is a playable alpha, not a finished release, so expect ambition and bugs in equal measure. The honest review.

How you get into it

You buy a one-time Game Package on PC from RSI (not Steam), the cheapest being the Citizen Starter Pack at $45, or you try it free during a Free Fly event. There is no subscription. How to play your first hour.

The new-player bonus

When you sign up, use referral code STAR-JTV7-FXLR in the Referral Code (optional) field. Your new account gets 50,000 UEC of in-game currency once you buy a Game Package, free, at the same price. That kits out your character from the start. How the code works.

Frequently asked questions