It’s been all that Star Citizen has been talking about and this week it’s all here. The internet spaceship sandbox has launched its alpha 4.1.1 update as well as kicked off its 12 day-long Invictus Launch Week free fly event.

The alpha patch has brought on a host of new ship-based missions for players to experience along with the return of several other missions, several ship-based tweaks to things like turret ammo and capital ship flight, and some weapon balancing for FPS gameplay.

Of course, the bigger deal for most SC devotees is Invictus, as the game is now free-to-play for a limited time while giving everyone the opportunity to try out several ships and vehicles from a rotating display of manufacturers. CIG also decided to use Invictus to detail the Idris-P and Idris-M as well as its add-on kits that replace the weapon loadouts for these ships. Readers will recall the Idris-P is one of the so-called “stock limited” ships buyable at certain times and dates.

sources: official site (1, 2), YouTube Longtime MMORPG gamers will know that Star Citizen was originally Kickstarted for over $2M back in 2012 with a planned launch for 2014. As of 2025, it still lingers in an incomplete but playable alpha, having raised over $800M from gamers over years of continuing crowdfunding and sales of in-game ships and other assets. It is currently the highest-crowdfunded video game ever and has endured both indefatigable loyalty from advocates and immense skepticism from critics. A co-developed single-player title, Squadron 42, has also been repeatedly delayed.