Star Citizen's new gifting rules start Friday: gifts are picked at checkout, sent as email codes, and can't be paid with store credit

Gifting changes on Friday. Cloud Imperium Games has posted an Updates to Pledge Gifting FAQ on Spectrum that spells out how gifting works on the RSI store from Friday, October 30. The change was first announced back in August alongside the new Game Library system, in Updates to Pledge Gifting and Game Access.

You decide at checkout now. Until now you could buy a pledge, keep it in your hangar and gift it later. From Friday, only items that show a “Buying as a gift?” option can be gifted, and you have to choose that when you buy, SCRC explains. A pledge bought as a gift never lands in your own hangar. It goes out right away as an email with a redemption code, and there’s no way to schedule it for a birthday or the holidays.

How the recipient claims it. The person you’re gifting to needs an RSI account with a confirmed email address, but they can make that account after the email arrives. They redeem the code on the RSI Redemption Page, and the ship or package shows up in their hangar then. Badges and perks go to them, while the referral credit stays with the buyer.

The fine print.

• You can’t pay for a gift with store credit.
• If a gift isn’t claimed within 30 days, the buyer gets an automatic refund and an email.
• Gifts already sitting in hangars and old gift codes keep working the old way, Open Hangar notes.

Why players are talking. On Reddit, a lot of players read this as a blow to the “gray market” where people buy ships and resell them later, Cavalera reports. CIG doesn’t frame it that way in the FAQ, and says the gifting and Game Library changes are prep for Squadron 42 and Star Citizen 1.0. One more date to keep in mind: you have until November 1 to change which pledge is your protected Game Access pledge.

PPR take: If you’re planning to buy a friend a starter pack, nothing’s lost here. Just buy it on the day you want them to get it, and make sure they confirm their email.