The Alpha 4.8 Wipe Is Here — What You Lose, What Survives & What to Do

Star Citizen Alpha 4.8 Drops Today — With a Full Universe Wipe

Alpha 4.8 goes live today, May 13, at approximately 16:00 UTC — and it comes with the most comprehensive wipe Star Citizen has seen in years. If you've been building up aUEC, farming gear, or stacking vehicles in your hangar, it all resets. This is a clean slate: a fresh economy, a new meta, and a level playing field going into DefenseCon tomorrow.

Here's exactly what happens, what it means for you, and how to position yourself for the reset.

What Gets Wiped — The Full List

CIG has officially confirmed the following items are wiped when Alpha 4.8 goes live:

• aUEC — all in-game currency, back to zero
• In-game items — weapons, gear, consumables, everything purchased in-game
• Vehicles obtained in-game — ships, ground vehicles not tied to a pledge
• Reputation — all faction standing and mission rep reset
• Exec hangar ships — free ships earned through in-game progression
• Wikelo gear & Wikelo ships — all items and ships from the Wikelo crafting system are wiped

What Survives the Wipe

One thing explicitly survives: blueprints. Any blueprint in your possession — regardless of how it was obtained — carries over through the wipe. Everything built from those blueprints does not, but the recipes themselves remain yours.

And of course — pledge ships always survive any wipe. Ships purchased on the RSI Pledge Store or through the grey market are permanently tied to your account. No wipe, ever, touches them. They're back in your hangar the moment the servers come online.

10 Reasons This Wipe Is Actually Good for Star Citizen

1. The economy resets cleanly

aUEC inflation had been building for months. Old exploits, farming loops, and legacy credit stockpiles all vanish. Alpha 4.8 launches with a fresh economic baseline — prices, payouts, and supply dynamics work as CIG designed them.

2. Everyone starts equal

Veterans with billions in aUEC no longer have an advantage over new players. For the duration of DefenseCon's Free Fly (May 14–27), every Citizen — new or veteran — rebuilds from the same starting point. That's rare in any live game.

3. Pledge ships become the smart play

When in-game ships are wiped, the value of a permanent, wipe-safe pledge ship becomes immediately obvious. Every player who just lost their in-game fleet knows exactly what they need to do: get a ship that cannot be taken away.

4. The new meta is explored fresh

Alpha 4.8 ships a significant combat balance pass — armor is substantially more resistant, shields work differently. Everyone discovers the new meta simultaneously, from a clean state. No one has pre-farmed the optimal loadout under the new rules.

5. Tactical Strike Groups are best discovered together

The new TSG content — coordinated raid missions against Vanduul threats in the Nyx system — works best when everyone is rebuilding reputation together. The wipe ensures the community engages with it as fresh content, not as an afterthought to existing progression.

6. Server performance improves

Database bloat from months of accumulated items, transactions, and entity states gets cleared. Post-wipe performance is historically better — cleaner server state, fewer persistent entity conflicts. The Free Fly period benefits directly from this.

7. Refueling 2.0 launches into a clean economy

The new fuel system works best when no player has already stockpiled a year's worth of fuel reserves. The wipe means Refueling 2.0 actually has economic teeth from day one.

8. Blueprints survive — and that changes everything

Blueprints carry over through the wipe. CIG is explicitly rewarding players who invested in the crafting system — not with ships, but with the knowledge to rebuild them. It creates a meaningful incentive structure going forward: farm blueprints, not currency.

9. New players at DefenseCon aren't behind

Someone trying Star Citizen for the first time during the Free Fly tomorrow starts with the same economic foundation as a five-year veteran. That's a massively better onboarding experience and gives new players a real reason to stick around.

10. It motivates players to return

A major wipe is one of the most reliable player retention events in any persistent universe game. The 'fresh start' signal brings back lapsed players who had stopped logging in. DefenseCon timing amplifies this — the two combine into the highest concurrent player count of the year.

The Downsides — Being Honest

A wipe isn't painless. Here's what genuinely hurts:

• Months of grinding, gone. aUEC earned through legitimate mission running, cargo hauling, and combat all resets. There's no softening this — it stings.
• Reputation reset. Faction standing, mission chain progress, Intersect rank — everything that required time investment to unlock has to be rebuilt. TSG content requires Intersect rank 3+, which means progression work before the best new content unlocks.
• Wikelo entirely wiped. Ships and gear obtained through the Wikelo system are both reset. Only the blueprints themselves survive — everything built from them does not.

The Best Move Right Now: Pledge Ships Don't Wipe

If today's reset reinforces one thing, it's this: pledge ships are the only permanent asset in Star Citizen. Every in-game ship can be wiped. Every aUEC balance can be zeroed. A pledged ship sits on your account regardless of what CIG resets.

With DefenseCon starting tomorrow and new flight-ready ships launching all week — Ironclad and Ironclad Assault on May 14, MISC Starlite on May 18-19 — this is the highest-traffic window of the year for ship buying. Grey market prices on newly flight-ready ships typically spike within 24–48 hours of their reveal. The window to act at current prices is today.

Frequently Asked Questions

When exactly does the Alpha 4.8 wipe happen?

Alpha 4.8 goes live today, May 13, at approximately 16:00 UTC. The wipe happens simultaneously with the patch deployment — once the servers come back online, the reset is active.

Do pledge ships survive the wipe?

Yes — pledge ships are permanently tied to your RSI account and are never affected by wipes. Every wipe cycle, pledged ships return to your hangar automatically. They're the only ship ownership model that is truly wipe-proof.

What about Wikelo ships and gear?

Both are wiped. Wikelo ships and all Wikelo gear reset with Alpha 4.8. The only thing that carries over is the blueprints themselves — so your ability to rebuild is intact, but you start from scratch on crafted assets.

Is this the last major wipe before 1.0?

CIG hasn't officially committed to a wipe schedule leading to 1.0. Wipes have historically accompanied major patch releases that significantly alter game systems. With the pace of development accelerating toward Squadron 42's 2026 release window, further wipes remain possible.

Can I buy ships on StarShipDealers right now?

Yes — StarShipDealers operates 24/7 regardless of patch windows. Every transaction uses full escrow protection: your payment is held until delivery is confirmed. Pledge ships bought today are wipe-safe and will be in your hangar when the servers come back online. PayPal accepted.

Clear skies and safe jumps, Citizen! 🚀