Star Citizen is launching an overhauled referral program on July 2, Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) has announced. The revamped system will offer a new UI and more generous rewards for both veterans and Star Citizen newcomers, among several other novelties.
The current version of Star Citizen's referral program dates back to October 2015, when it was shadow-dropped during CitizenCon. The system incentivizes fans to recruit new players with various items, based on the total number of recruits. Newcomers aren't left empty-handed either, with the program providing them with a one-time sum of 5,000 UEC when they create their account. Over the years, CIG occasionally beefed up these rewards during limited-time Star Citizen events, but the underlying system has mostly remained the same.
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Posts 3Some fundamental changes have now been announced in late June 2025, months ahead of the referral initiative's tenth anniversary. A new version of the program will launch next Wednesday, July 2, introducing more generous rewards, including themed cosmetics, Star Citizen ships like the Idris-M and Vanduul Scythe, and the MISC R.A.P.T.O.R. cleaning vehicle, which started as an April's Fool joke but is now confirmed to be in development and will be added to the new rewards ladder at a later date.
Star Citizen Referral Program Getting a Much-Improved UI
CloseThe July 2 revamp will also include a comprehensive user interface overhaul. The new version of the referral program's UI will include animated milestones, better progress tracking, and a refreshed leaderboard with weekly, monthly, and yearly filters. Star Citizen players who have referred others prior to the launch of the new system will retain access to a "Legacy Ladder" and continue progressing on both old and new tracks simultaneously, with new referrals counting toward progress on both ladders. Over on the new leaderboard, an "all-time" filter will allow players to see their overall progress, counting both pre- and post-overhaul referral points earned.
This revamp brings everything up to speed with a modern look, improved usability, and a reward structure worthy of today’s Star Citizen community.
To facilitate onboarding, Star Citizen newcomers will now receive 50,000 UEC if they use a referral code during account creation, a tenfold increase. CIG is also introducing a 24-hour grace period for applying referral codes to new accounts, in case users fail to do so initially for any reason. The overhaul doesn't require any action on the part of the players, as their existing referral codes will still work, with their Prospects—people who used their referral codes without buying a package yet—carrying over.
Why Is CIG Overhauling Star Citizen's Referral Program?
CIG cited the outdated design and rewards of the original referral program as the main reasons why it opted to commit resources to this forthcoming modernization. "This revamp brings everything up to speed with a modern look, improved usability, and a reward structure worthy of today’s Star Citizen community," the developer said in a prepared statement. Reading between the lines, it's possible that the old reward structure wasn't yielding the results it used to as the game continued to mature throughout its long development period, which still has no end in sight.
