Star Citizen is free to download and play for the next week

Fly before you buy

In a nutshell: Fleet Week, as it is also called, “is the period between Emancipation Day and Armistice Day that marks the beginning of the new recruitment year for the UEE Navy.” Ship builders are using the occasion to showcase their latest and greatest creations. Best yet, gamers will be able to test fly most of the ships on display.

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games is hosting a Free Fly event to celebrate the fictional in-game Invictus Launch Week.

From now through June 2, interested parties can sign up for an account, download the game and play for the duration of the event.

The developer said manufacturers will be cycling through the event every other day to keep the showcase fresh, so be sure to check back often to see what is available to take for a spin (or simply check the schedule to plan your week).

Star Citizen is a spiritual successor to Freelancer. The project was announced in 2013 through Kickstarter although development actually started a couple of years earlier. The game achieved more than $2.1 million in funding from its Kickstarter run and has gone on to generate over $286 million to date. This has allowed Cloud Imperium Games to hit a number of stretch goals, adding new features to the game at a regular clip, but has also kept the title in the alpha phase for an extended period of time.

The current build of Star Citizen is Alpha 3.9.