Invictus Launch Week 2955 has kicked off in Star Citizen, meaning that the game is also free to play for a limited time.
Specifically, you’ll be able to gain access to the game between today (May 15) and May 27, with no limit. Due to the event, you’ll also be able to try out almost all the vehicles and ship via a free rental system with a rotating lineup day by day.
In order to play, you need to create a free account and follow the instructions on the official website.
Of course, this also marks the release of the mighty Aegis Idris capital ship, which is going to be the largest playable ship in Star Citizen for a while, albeit much bigger ones are planned.
Incidentally, if you’d like to visit one in-game, you can simply head to the top of Arccorp Tower in Area 18, and you’ll find an Idris docked there, ready to be explored. You can actually see it in the screenshot above. It’s so massive that I had to play with the camera a lot and still couldn’t get it all into the frame.
You can also enjoy a new video below, in which the developers showcase the ship and explain its variants and customization options.
Incidentally, Invictus Launch Week has nothing to do with the game’s launch. It’s an in-lore celebration of the beginning of the new recruitment year for the UEE Fleet. The “2955” is the in-game year. Star Citizen’s time progresses in parallel with the real world, but 930 years in the future.
Below, you can also check out a specific trailer for Invictus Launch Week.
If you’re unfamiliar with Star Citizen, it’s a PC exclusive crowdfunded project directed by Chris Roberts, who created the beloved Wing Commander series in the days of early PC gaming. It’s a multiplayer sandbox space simulator that has been in development for over a decade and in alpha for several years.
In the meantime, the crowdfunding total continues to grow, and it just passed $812 million. To be precise, it’s currently at $812,321,105. The game also has 5,648,828 registered users, albeit not all of them are paying customers. Many simply create an account to enjoy the occasional free-to-play periods like the one that just started.
The single-player campaign titled Squadron 42 is also in active development, starring an exceptional cast of famous actors, including Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Liam Cunningham, Gillian Anderson, and more.
Since the project has been in development for over a decade, you can see how Squadron 42 has evolved since its first reveal.
Full disclosure: the author of this article has backed Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign.
