Star Citizen is free-to-play as it kicks off its annual Ship Showdown event

Just a month after its last free event, Star Citizen is free-to-play again, from now until 22nd August, 2024.

That means everyone can jump in and give the space sim a chance, as well as try out all "top 16 ships", "granting both green and grizzled pilots the ability to try out eligible ships before choosing which one to vote for" at this year's Ship Showdown event.

For the last few weeks, the community has been voting for their favourite ships and ground vehicles with their own "original creations", including videos, songs, photos, paintings, and more.

Now the final 16 ships are battling it out "across eight diverse categories", with the final eight selected on 23rd August.

"Ship Showdown sees the Star Citizen community voting for their favourite vehicles, and this year a shortlist of sixteen ships will be battling it out across different categories," developer Cloud Imperium Games explains.

"As part of the celebration, every player will gain free access to all sixteen ships for a limited time, so they can try them out before voting."

After the top four ships are determined later in August, "all current players that possess the top four ships in-game will receive a limited-edition ship paint and corresponding manufacturer’s poster to show off their ship’s popularity". The final winning vehicle will get the "ultimate prize", the first official event banner, "which can be placed as a decoration in player’s hangars".

If you fancy seeing for yourself why Star Citizen has raised an astonishing $700m in crowdfunding, sign up now.

Last month, Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) was ordered to pay more than £27k to a disabled former employee who brought a discrimination claim against the company.