)/85/foundationfestival-banner-25-4k-update.webp "Star Citizen July 2025 Freefly Instructions Foundation Festival")
Try Star Citizen For Free!
This page offers both new and returning players instructions to access the ships for the Foundation Festival 2025 July Free Fly event.
Free to Fly Dates: July 2nd through July 14th 2025
How to use this guide
What Is Foundation Festival?
Foundation Festival is a Star Citizen month-long community celebration aimed at strengthening community bonds. During this time new players can use player guides to learn the game and Orgs can show off videos for recruitment. The Foundation Festival Free Fly is only from 12th 2024 to July 19th. The Free Fly allows anyone to play Star Citizen for free all they need to do is make an account.
Try 10 Ships For Free
During Foundation Festival if you click on the FLY FOR FREE button after creating an account you will have access to 10 ships to try during the event. These 10 ships are rentals and will be removed after the free fly at some time.
Earn In-Game Items
By participating in the guide system (existing backers) or as a recruit (new players) you can unlock in game items such as guns, paints and armor during Foundation Festival.
Important Information For New Players (Don't have an account)
Before starting your Star Citizen adventure it can be good to consider game requirements and other details. Here are the 5 steps to get you up and flying in no time!
1 - Before you create an account make sure to have a referral code
2 - Check your system requirements before you download
3 - Sign up for the free fly and download the game
4 - Star Citizen Alpha Player Guide - How To Play
5 - New player checklist
1 - Create An Account - Use A Referral Code!
Creating your account is your first step into the Star Citizen universe. Using a referral code grants you an extra 50,000 UEC (in game credits when the game is released) if you decide to purchase the game (not required for the free fly).
Creating an account is free (whether you buy the game or not).
Use this referral code: STAR-TP53-FCKS
Referral Bonus
Using a referral code gives you 50,000 UEC to your account. This is in game credits you can use for weapons and equipment when starting out.
2 - Check the system requirements
To get the most out of your Free Fly event you will want to make sure your computer can handle Star Citizen. It is an advanced MMORPG universe under construction therefore the system requirements are quite steep. Even if your computer can handle other games Star Citizen can be very demanding on system resources.
Important Notice: Star Citizen is constantly growing and these specs will be out of date so do your own research always.
Star Citizen aims to push the boundaries of what is technically possible in a 3D virtual universe. As such it requires as good a gaming PC as you can get your hands on.
For a premium experience you will want as close to or better than the following specs:
| Operating System | Windows 11 (or 10) |
| CPU | Late generation fast cores |
| GPU | 12GB+ VRAM |
| RAM | 32GB+ |
| Storage | 2TB SSD or NVME / M.2 |
| Internet | Broadband |
| Screen Resolution | 4K |
3 - Sign up for the free fly and download the game
Step 1 - Create Account (Make sure to use the Referral Code STAR-TL3M-N6YJ if you don't already have one)
Step 2 - Download the game
Click The FLY FOR FREE Button
To be able to access the flyable ships whether you are a new or existing player, click the FLY FOR FREE button after you have signed up / signed in.
1) Log into the Official page Roberts Space Industries
2) Click the FLY FOR FREE button from the Festival Page
Enjoy the Star Citizen Free Fly!
4. Alpha Player Guide - How To Play
Roberts Space Industries offer an official Getting Started Guide.
Additionally, if you would like an in-game player to help you when starting out, Star Citizen offers player guides.
Player guides can help you learn up to 4 of the following proficiencies at a time:
- Basics
- Vehicle Combat
- FPS Combat
- Mining
- Missions
- Trading
- Touring
- Miscellaneous
Teaming up with an experienced player can be a great way to start your journey through the stars.
To get started with player guides go here -> Find a Player Guide (Official)
5. New player checklist
Please check the following items before your free fly:
- You have set up an account and used the referral code
- You have checked the system requirements (and have about 100GB free of storage space)
- You have downloaded the game (https://robertsspaceindustries.com/download)
- You have entered the Free Fly Code to unlock the 6 flyable ships (Code: FOUNDFEST2954)
- You have a suitable webcam (30fps to 60fps) for FOIP - Optional
- You have a Joystick or Gamepad - Optional
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of performance to expect?
Expect several major issues:
- Server instability - You could be unable to enter the servers due to high demand
- Game crashes - Your game may crash. Ensure 32GB of ram to reduce client crashes
- Bad frame rates - Heavy server loads with the increased activity due to the evens can make the framerates even worse than usual
- Lots of bugs - Star Citizen is under heavy development and has four major patch releases a year as well as minor ones in between
- Unable to join game - Overloaded server queues for joining during these events can mean players sometimes go days without being able to play
- Cheaters and Hackers - Unfortunately this Free Fly seems to have more cheating and hacking than noticeable before
Having set the expectation for poor performance also keep in mind that the recent optimizations to the game mean it is still expected to run much better than any previous in-game event.
When Will Star Citizen Be Finished For Commercial Release?
Here at SCFOCUS we have been tracking the Star Citizen release date for many years. Constant delays and the huge scope of the game means that Star Citizen will not be coming out of Alpha anytime soon. The announced cycle is Alpha to Beta then Final Release.
The game is currently in Alpha with the in-game currency currently called aUEC for Alpha UEC. UEC will be the final currency when the game is ready, until then the in-game currency is temporary and reset periodically.
What is Squadron 42?
Squadron 42 is a single player game being developed in parallel to Star Citizen by much of the same development team. Both game share resources and Squadron 42 is planned to release before Star Citizen. You do not need Squadron 42 to play Star Citizen. It is an optional purchase during checkout if you choose to buy Star Citizen.
When Is The Next Update?
The next update for Star Citizen is scheduled for after the Free Fly is over. The current patch is Alpha 4.2 and after Foundation Festival Alpha 4.2.1 will be released. For release date estimates and patch features please read SCFOCUS release dates page and also check out the official Roadmap.
Is Credit Earned In-Game Permanent?
No. During Star Citizen Alpha (and eventually Beta) all player accounts are reset periodically. The game is under heavy construction and player items and account balances need to be wiped from time to time.
Some Star Citizen rewards, however, are permanent such as:
- Referral rewards
- Some Items earned through in game events
- Some Items earned through contests outside the game
- Anything you buy with cash or credit on the website
The next player account wipe is estimated for Alpha 4.0 for the end of 2024 or early 2025. This means that any credits earned in-game or items purchased in-game between now and Alpha 4.0 will be lost.