Star Citizen Best in Show: Editions, Paints and Rewards by Year
From the original 2949 liveries to the latest Ship Showdown winners, explore the paints, special editions and rewards that make each Best in Show year different.
A Best in Show name can refer to a ship edition, a paint for a ship you already own, or one of the commemorative rewards from that year’s Ship Showdown. The year matters as much as the ship name: the 2949 liveries used an upgrade system, while later events awarded paints alongside changing sets of clothing, coins, posters and other in-game items.
Start with the item’s full name and contents. A paint does not supply the spacecraft it fits, and a reward marking the tournament’s overall winner may have been distributed more widely than that ship’s paint. The in-universe year identifies the event: 2949 corresponds to 2019, 2950 to 2020, and so on.
Ships, livery upgrades and inventory paints
A ship with a built-in special appearance and a removable paint item are different forms of customisation. Star Citizen has ships with their own appearance, customisable ships, skin upgrades applied to a ship, and in-game paint items stored like components. Best in Show has used more than one of these systems over its history.
That is especially important for IAE 2949. Its legacy skins are specifically named among the limited customisations that can be permanently lost when the underlying pledge is reclaimed. Do not treat reclaiming as an ordinary way to remove a paint. Where a ship has not been updated to the newer customisation system, the older skin or customisation may not be freely removable.
For an inventory paint, fitting is an in-game process through the ship’s mobiGlas loadout screen. The paint and compatible ship must be available at the same location; newly acquired paint items start at the primary residence. Our ship-paint fitting guide covers that process.
2949 / 2019: the original livery upgrades
The 2949 group brought together the Drake Caterpillar, Drake Cutlass Black, Aegis Hammerhead and Aegis Reclaimer. The Caterpillar took the overall title. Their IAE presentation paired the special liveries with in-game hangar schematics, shown together in the original event artwork.
On 2 December 2019, Livery Upgrades were announced for existing owners’ web hangars, giving them the choice to change their ship’s appearance. This is the origin of the distinction between a 2949 Best in Show edition and the later annual paint rewards. A 2949 skin therefore needs to be treated as legacy customisation, with its own removal restrictions.
2950 / 2020: paints, shirts and a Carrack helmet
The Anvil Carrack, Anvil Valkyrie, Aegis Eclipse and Drake Cutlass Black each received a Best in Show paint and a themed in-game shirt for eligible owners. The Carrack won the tournament, and its design also inspired an in-game helmet for all backers at IAE 2950. Owning the Carrack was not the requirement for that wider helmet reward.
Eligibility for the ship-specific items required the ship to be in the web hangar; an entry in the Buyback List did not qualify. The rollout was due to begin on 3 December 2020 in waves and could take up to 72 hours. Some owners were later found to be missing duplicate paint and item grants. That three-day window belonged to the original rollout; it is not a resolution time for missing rewards today.
2951 / 2021: the Argo Cargo’s year
The Argo MPUV-1C, Crusader Mercury Star Runner, Crusader C2 Hercules Starlifter and Origin 600i formed the final four. Eligible owners received the corresponding Best in Show paint and a matching in-game jacket. The overall winner was the MPUV-1C, affectionately known as the Argo Cargo.
An Argo Astronautics backpack went to all backers, including those without an MPUV. Paint and jacket distribution began in waves on 28 November 2021, with a second distribution at the end of IAE. The vehicle had to be in the web hangar; ships held only in the Buyback List did not qualify.
2952 / 2022: coins and two Carrack models
The next group was the Anvil Carrack, Anvil Pisces, Crusader Mercury Star Runner and RSI Scorpius. Each qualifying ship brought its paint and an in-game challenge coin. For the Pisces, eligibility extended to both the C8 and C8X; it did not simply award eligibility to every variant carrying the Pisces name.
To celebrate the Carrack’s overall victory, all backers received two in-game Carrack models in different sizes and a fifth, Ship Showdown-themed challenge coin. Those models were not flyable Carracks. The ship-specific rewards started rolling out on 27 November 2022, with web-hangar ownership required and Buyback List entries excluded. Once granted, the items were usable in Alpha 3.17.4.
2953 / 2023: manufacturer posters join the paints
The Origin 600i Explorer, Drake Corsair, Aegis Redeemer and Drake Vulture earned the 2953 rewards: a corresponding paint and in-game manufacturer poster for each qualifying ship. This year’s rules expressly included the 600i Touring and Executive Edition alongside the Explorer.
Distribution was arranged in two waves, beginning on 27 November 2023 and continuing at the end of IAE. Ships had to be in the hangar rather than only in the Buyback List. A Best in Show edition contained its rewards within that ship’s package and did not generate an additional copy of them.
2954 / 2024: F8C victory and a separate pennant
The Anvil F8C Lightning, Anvil Terrapin, Crusader C1 Spirit and Aegis Reclaimer each received a paint and manufacturer poster for eligible owners. The F8C took the overall win, celebrated by a separate F8C Best in Show pennant for every backer.
The first distribution was set for 2 December 2024, followed by another at the end of IAE. Buyback List entries did not qualify, and the rewards included with Best in Show editions did not generate an extra copy. The pennant’s broader distribution should not be confused with eligibility for the F8C’s paint.
2955 / 2025: the Zeus ES qualification
The RSI Polaris, Anvil Asgard, RSI Zeus ES and Anvil Gladiator were the four rewarded ships in 2955. Qualifying owners received the relevant Best in Show paint and in-game manufacturer poster. Every backer received a Polaris championship pennant to mark the Polaris’s overall victory.
For the Zeus, the distinction was exact: the Zeus ES qualified; the Zeus CL did not. The rules required the specific Best in Show ship in the hangar and explicitly rejected substituting another variant. That qualification differs from the named Pisces and 600i inclusions in earlier years.
The rewards were scheduled for distribution at the end of IAE 2955, with the warning that grants could take time to appear. Buyback List entries did not qualify, and the Best in Show editions contained their rewards within the package without an additional duplicate grant.
2956 / 2026: Perseus leads the Best in Show lineup
The RSI Perseus won Ship Showdown 2956, defeating the Drake Ironclad Assault in the final. The Origin M80 placed third and the Drake Corsair fourth.
Each finalist has a Best in Show paint and challenge coin announced for IAE. Owners of the winning Perseus are also due an in-game bomber jacket. Best in Show is on 22 November, followed by the 23–27 November finale. See the IAE rental calendar for the full manufacturer schedule.
Exact ownership cutoffs, variant exceptions and the reward distribution timetable are still to be announced. The showcase date is not a confirmed delivery date for every reward; earlier years’ rules do not establish eligibility for 2956.
See our IAE 2956 Best in Show guide for a closer look at the four ships and this year’s announced rewards.
Match the item to its year before assuming what is included
Read a Best in Show item in three parts: the year, the exact ship or variant, and the contents. A 2952 Pisces eligibility exception does not establish a 2955 Zeus exception. A universally distributed helmet, backpack, model or pennant does not establish ownership of the matching ship or paint. A ship package with included rewards does not necessarily generate a second, separate copy of those rewards.
These annual grants describe the conditions at the original event. Possessing a qualifying ship now does not, by itself, demonstrate that an account met a past distribution’s conditions. For a missing historical reward, identify the year and specific item first, then compare the account’s record with that year’s rules rather than treating every Best in Show item as the same kind of paint.
