Star Trek Online has been privileged to have a great history of executive producers through its lifetime.  Over the past three and a half years I’ve been humbled at the opportunity to shepherd this game forward, interact with this amazing community and lead this team of dedicated developers.

When I initially took the big chair, after half a decade of working on the game already, it was as intimidating as it was exhilarating.  In that first month my whiteboard filled with ideas, hopes and goals for future updates, as my calendar filled with endless meetings, forward-looking planning sessions and constant evaluation of the live game.  Many of those ideas and hopes made it into the game, with some looser goals eventually taking shape as the PvEvP system and the Admiralty System.  Some of my riskier plans actually came to fruition as well, such as going truly serialized with our story, releasing an episode a month for 10 months to do justice to an Iconian War, 3D Ship printing and an expansion to honor my favorite series in Star Trek, Deep Space Nine.  I would say that not every item that was put on that white board in that first month was crossed off the list, but many of them were.  I’m proud of every release, every feature, every event and every episode we released over the last three and a half years and with the incredibly successful release of Victory is Life behind us, I’m announcing that I’ll be leaving the big chair as the executive producer of Star Trek Online.  I’ll still be a part of the Cryptic Studios family and in my stead I’m happy to introduce our new executive producer, Andre Emerson.  He has a wealth of video game industry experience and knowledge of Star Trek, and I know his time in the captain’s chair will mean exciting new things for this community and this game.

Star Trek has been part of my life since I was very young and the thought that one day I would lead a team that crafted such a fantastic game in this beloved universe was something I never thought possible.  From the amazing stories to the interactions with the community, I’m a better developer for having worked on this game, a better leader for having worked with this amazing team, and a better person for having a chance to interact with and get to know all of you in the community.

Star Trek Online has one of the best, most passionate communities in the world. It has been my honor to have served as your captain for the past three and a half years. Thank you for all your support. 

Live Long and Prosper

Stephen Ricossa

Executive Producer