Star Citizen is a multiplayer space trading and combat simulation game that’s currently under development and seeing quite a lot of players signing up to play, especially during its September 8 to 15 free play window.
That said, while the game does offer a different experience, it’s under development and can still throw random bugs and glitches your way. In this article, we’re talking about the CIG error 16008 in Star Citizen and what you can do to fix the problem.
What causes this issue?
The error currently seems to be mostly impacting players in the US and is currently being investigated by the Star Citizen team. Possible causes include the following.
- RSI server outages.
- Outdated launcher.
- Issues with Easy anti-cheat.
- Game access is blocked by a firewall.
- ISP issues.
Also read: What is US01LV: ‘Wireless customer is not available’ error?
How to fix this?
Here are eight fixes you can try out.
Check internet connection
Now’s also a good time to check whether or not you have an active internet connection. If you’re on WiFi, make sure you’ve got an active link and that there are no signal issues. On cellular data, ensure that it’s enabled and that you’re getting good network coverage.
Check RSI server status
If RSI servers are down, you won’t be able to play the game leading to this error or a host of other ones. Check the RSI status update page to see if there’s an outage and if there is, sit tight until the developers get things going again.
Update your launcher
Using an outdated launcher has also been known to cause this issue. Head over to the RSI download page to download the latest available launcher version (version 3.17.2A at the time of writing), install it or update your existing installation and try launching the game again.
Also read: Is Bloom.exe a virus? How to remove it?
Disable VPN or proxies
If you’re running a VPN connection or any proxies, chances are they could be hampering your connection to the Star Citizen servers. In such cases, try disabling any active VPN connections or proxy settings to see if that helps resolve the issue.
Alternatively, if your ISP is blocking your connection to the game, using a VPN can actually come in handy as it’ll reroute your traffic and can help the game run.
Update your GPU drivers
Outdated GPU drivers can also cause this issue in particular. While you should update all your drivers, take special care of your display drivers if you run into an error like this.
Step 1: Right-click Start and select Device Manager from the menu.
Step 2: Under Display Adaptors, find your graphics card’s name, right-click on it and click on Update Drivers.
Step 3: Click on Search automatically for drivers. Windows will then automatically look for and download the latest drivers for your particular GPU.
While this should help resolve the error, in case it doesn’t, click Uninstall device and restart your PC to force Windows to install the required drivers. You can then update them later. Alternatively, you can also remove your GPU and reinsert it if you can.
Repair Easy Anti Cheat
If your game’s anti-cheat software isn’t working correctly, it can cause connection issues and other problems. All you have to do is head over to your Steam library folder, find the game directory and you’ll see the Easy Anti Cheat setup file inside the Binary/Win64 folder. Run the installer to repair the program and try launching your game again.
Also read: Open video downloader error binaries missing/corrupted: 6 Fixes
Restart the Easy Anti Cheat service
If the anti-cheat is installed fine but isn’t running properly, that’ll still cause problems for you. Here’s how to restart the service.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + R to open the Run prompt. Type services.msc and press enter.
Step 2: Scroll to find the Easy Anti-Cheatservice and double click it to proceed.
Step 3: In the Startup type dropdown, select Automatic. If the service is stopped, click the Start button to activate the service manually. Click Apply and OK when done.
Now try launching your game again and it should work just fine.
Edit the hosts file
Although rare, there can be an issue with the Windows hosts file as well that can keep you from connecting to RSI’s servers. Here’s how you can reset your Windows hosts file to see if that fixes the issue for you.
Step 1: Open up Windows Explorer and head over to the following path
Windows (C:) > Windows > System32 > drivers > etc 
Step 2: You’ll see a file named hosts. Right-click on the file and open it with notepad using the Open with option.
Step 3: Select everything in the file and clear it out. Make sure to save before closing the file.
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