Someone told you about Freelancer. Maybe you saw a clip, maybe you read something about a 2003 space game with no sequel and a community that still won't let it go. Now you're wondering how to actually play it.
Here's the honest answer.
Freelancer is not on Steam. It's not on any digital store. Microsoft published it in 2003 and then, as far as digital retail goes, it quietly ceased to exist. You will not find a buy button anywhere. That's just the reality.
What you will find is a physical disc. One disc — a jewel-case CD-ROM. It shows up on eBay regularly for a few dollars if you search "Freelancer PC 2003 Microsoft." Disc condition matters more than box condition. If it reads cleanly, you're set.
Once you've got it, installation is straightforward but needs a bit of coaxing on modern Windows. Run the installer as administrator, set compatibility mode to Windows XP Service Pack 2 if it complains, and apply the official 1.1 patch before doing anything else. After that, a widescreen fix and an FPS uncapper are near-essential — without them the game looks and runs worse than it should on modern hardware. These are all free, all community-maintained, all safe.
The full step-by-step is in the install guide. That's where you should go next.
One more thing, though. Don't just get it running and dive into the campaign. Take five minutes in the first bar you land in — Manhattan, the starting station — and click on every NPC. Buy a drink. Read the rumours board. The game will start telling you things. That's not window dressing. That's how Freelancer works. The world is in the bars.
There's a universe guide here too, if you want to know what you're flying into before you undock. And a ships guide for when you've earned enough credits to start asking what to spend them on.
But the short version is this: find a disc, run a few patches, talk to the bartender. You're already further along than most people who give up before they start.
Welcome to Sirius.