Star Trek Online is entering a new phase as it celebrates its 16th anniversary, a period marked by significant leadership changes and a renewed drive for innovation. The return of former CEO Jack Emmert to Cryptic Studios and the company's successful separation from Embracer Group have set the stage for a fresh approach to the venerable MMO.
Executive Producer Thomas Marrone expressed gratitude for Emmert's return, noting that the new CEO has encouraged the Star Trek Online team to explore new ideas and question existing practices. "We had a rhythm of here's an episode, here's a TFO, here's a couple patrols," Marrone explained, contrasting the previous predictable content cycle with the current mandate to "try new things, and to look at, are there ways to give people something new every update." The recently launched 'Undiscovered' update is cited as one of the first examples of this new direction.
A New Flavor of Content
The 'Undiscovered' update introduces several key changes, including a temporary pause in the ongoing storyline and a complete remake of one of STO's oldest arcs. This remake features the return of two veteran voice actors from Star Trek: Voyager reprising their roles. Additionally, the update aims to enhance player engagement with sector space through revamped Deep Space Encounters, designed as 15-minute adventures. Marrone described the update as offering a "different flavor" that focuses on patching up the game's core systems rather than simply adding new content on top. "It's really geared at making the game feel alive and feel like it's worth flying around and exploring sector space in a way that I don't think we had before," he said.
Senior Narrative Designer Flo McQuibban added that the team is "trying to push the boundaries" of both narrative and mechanical possibilities, albeit within the constraints of their development resources. "Game development is a zero sum game," Marrone cautioned, explaining that focusing on remaking an arc means that other potential updates, such as overhauling something like the Iconian War arc, must take a backseat. While the team would like to revisit and improve older content, their current development cycle necessitates prioritizing singular, focused efforts.
Community and Empathy
Looking ahead, McQuibban believes that maintaining a strong relationship with the player base is crucial for Star Trek Online's continued success. She highlighted the development team's communicative approach and the community's empathy and patience as key factors. "We're a very communicative development team," she stated, "and I feel like the playerbase has a lot of empathy back towards us, and grace and patience for when we are transparent and in regular discussion with them."
Marrone emphasized that Emmert has also instilled a sense of empathy for the player experience within the development team. This involves actively playing the game themselves to understand its strengths and weaknesses. "Jack said right when he got back that he wants us to have empathy for the player," Marrone said. "So that means that we play the games ourselves, that we understand the experience of playing the game, and that we understand, hey, this isn't so great, this is really cool, we should do more of this, we should do less of this, we should fix that."
Despite the challenges posed by aging technology and evolving player expectations, Star Trek Online benefits from a high player retention rate and remarkably stable concurrent player numbers. Marrone believes that this strong player relationship is what has sustained the game thus far and will continue to carry it forward, especially as the broader Star Trek franchise navigates an uncertain future with its remaining television series heading towards their conclusions.