After seven years with Cryptic Studios, Star Trek Online Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich is hanging up his Phaser. In an open letter to the Cryptic community, Zinkievich described his departure as a chance to “take a break” from the company as he focuses on other things. No, not other projects, just other things, like “hanging out with my kids over the summer, walking my goat more and taking care of my bees.”

Nice. No wonder his departure is creating such a buzz…

Zinkievich described the two and a half years of working on STO as the highlight of his career and announced that Cryptic’s Daniel Stahl will take over as EP on the game. While the possibility of a return to Crypitc or a move elsewhere seems to be on the table, no long-term plans were revealed via the announcement.

We’ll keep you posted when/if we learn more. How do the STO players amongst you feel about this? Let us know in the comments below!

via ShackNews

Star Trek Online, Cryptic’s MMORPG set in the universe from Gene Roddenberry’s imagination, has released its demo today. The demo gives you an unlimited amount of play time with the game, just with a limited amount of its content. In the demo you can only play as the Federation faction and only in the Tutorial and Stranded In Space levels. But, you can play it for as long as you want. In addition to the demo, Star Trek Online also offers some rewards programs for current or previous subscribers as well. Here are the details:

• Veteran Rewards program – “For every 100 days of playtime logged, players can collect rewards including new titles, ship and ship slots, boosts, costume pieces, character slots and more. Of course, Lifetime subscribers will also receive all Veteran rewards as they reach each 100-day milestone.”
• Referral program – “When a player successfully refers a friend, he or she will receive the title of Courier, a unique Tribble and non-stacking skill points for your Captain and Officers. When a referred friend subscribes to Star Trek Online, the referrer will receive an additional title of Recruiter, a unique holographic bridge officer and 400 Cryptic points!”
• Winback Weekend – “Users with a valid Star Trek Online retail account, but no current subscription, can log-in with their existing characters and play free for the entire weekend. This initiative will kick off on May 7, 2010, at 10 a.m. PST and last until May 10, 2010, at 10 a.m. PST. Pre-load begins on May 3, 2010.”

In case you don’t know it, this games is a PC only title and if your interested in checking it out you can download the installer for the demo right here. Beam me up, Scotty!

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We’re coming very close to exploring the Final Frontier for ourselves in Star Trek Online and if you want to be flying in at warp speed with a bit of a discount, now’s the time to drop down your cash.

In case you haven’t heard, between now and the game’s release on February 2, 2010 inspired players will be able to purchase their Lifetime Membership or 12-Month Membership at a discount that will no longer be available once the game is launched.

The Lifetime Membership will cost $239.99, $60 less than the regular price of $299.99 and includes 2 extra character slots and “a playable Starfleet captain who’s been reclaimed from the Borg”, whatever that means.  The 12-Month membership on the other hand will cost $119.99 and also includes 2 extra character slots, which is about $60 less a year then compared to paying $14.99 a month.

Pretty solid deals for all the Trekkies sold on the game already and especially for those willing to throw down the big bucks for long term play. If the promising beta is any indication, Star Trek Online should have no problem living long and prospering. So, who’s in?

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Atari and Cryptic have announced that Star Trek Online for PC has entered its open beta phase which will run through January 26, 2010. Fans with valid open beta keys can now explore the Star Trek universe in all of its glory.

“We are thrilled to give open beta access to fans as we draw nearer to the official release of Star Trek Online,” said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online. “We are looking forward to the launch of our first-of-a-kind MMORPG with anticipation and excitement and we expect Star Trek Online to explode onto the scene, giving fans and gamers a Star Trek experience like no other.”

Interested? Information about where to obtain open beta keys and where to download the open beta client can be found on the official Star Trek Online website at: http://www.startrekonline.com/openbeta.

So, the 2009 Spike VGAs are in the books and after some big announcements, world premiere trailers, and a crap ton of lasers, we’ve decided to bullet point the biggest headlines from the event to keep you “in the know”.

Here’s what’s what and the MUST KNOW headlines from the event in no particular order:

- Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 was teased, you can see the trailer here
- Zachary Quinto (Heroes/Star Trek) will be providing voice talent to the upcoming Star Trek Online.
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 was announced. Trailer viewable here.
- Tron Evolution was announced, shown for the first time. Trailer here.
- A downloadable game based on Deadliest Warrior was announced. First footage revealed.
- Activision and United Front will be delivering a new True Crime game in 2010.
- Green Day Rock Band was announced.
- A cinematic trailer for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands was revealed.
- UFC Undisputed 2010 was announced and the first trailer was shown
- Spec Ops: The Line was announced/shown.
- EA’s revamped Medal of Honor was shown for the first time and it looks pretty much exactly like Modern Warfare 2…which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
- Halo: Reach was revealed via an “in-engine” trailer.
- Crackdown 2 was shown for the first time.

Oh yeah! There were awards handed out too and Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves took home top honors as Game of the Year as well as earning hardware for Best PlayStation 3 Game and Best Graphics. There were a lot of winners in a wide range of categories so hit the jump for the full listing.
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Folks anxiously awaiting the release of Cryptic Studio’s Star Trek Online in North America and thinking about pre-ordering the game now have a multitude of choices when it comes to securing some exclusive goodies. As Joystiq points out, for better or worse, the content is quite varied and spread out amongst various retailers, making it pretty much impossible to enjoy everything the game has to offer. Anyway, here’s what you get and where you get it if you should choose to pre-order the game:

GameStop: GameStop customers receive the ability to command the exclusive and always classic USS Enterprise from Star Trek The Original Series.

Best Buy: Best Buy is offering their customers a fun in-game pet. As a Federation Captain, players own a famed Tribble of Star Trek lore that will accompany them on their travels into the final frontier. As a Klingon commander, players control the boar-like Targ, a beast found on the Klingon home world of Qo’noS.

Amazon: Amazon is offering an exclusive “Liberated Borg” Bridge Officer. This bridge officer, who comes with unique nanotechnology augmentations, assists in missions and gains experience as the player does.

Wal-Mart: With the Wal-Mart Bonus Skill Points package, receive addition skill points that enable players to improve their characters quickly.

Target: Target customers who pre-order Star Trek Online receive a unique ground weapon – a TR-116. This rare projectile weapon is used in dampening fields and other challenging environments; it is also modified with a micro-transporter which beams the fired projectiles to targets at close range so that a user can fire without a direct line of site.

Direct2Drive: Direct2Drive customers receive an exclusive Multi-Spatial Personal Shield. This advanced personal shield system is based on Borg technology, which constantly regenerates itself and the health of its wearer.

STEAM: STEAM is offering customers Chromodynamic Armor. This armor is based on technology brought back from the Delta Quadrant by USS Voyager improves the damage and critical hits of energy weapons.

So, if you ARE gonna pre-order the game, which of the above options do you think is the coolest? Star Trek Online will be available at North American retailers on February 2, 2010, giving you a little time to make your decision.

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Spearmen to the front and drive back the fire serpent, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! In this week’s skirmish we plot a course to Star Trek Online’s release early next year, dig through some of the leaked Black Friday deals, play with Princess Zelda in Spirit Tracks, and gasp in shock at the news there will be more Call of Duty in 2010.

First up under the axe this week: Warhammer Online’s recently announced “Endless Free Trial” will allow players to have as much fun as they want in WAR, up to level 10. Will giving away a big chunk of their game increase sales? Next up we take a look at Nintendo’s holiday lineup and ponder whether or not New Super Mario Bros Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks can hold the line against Sony and Microsoft’s third party onslaught.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to Halo: Reach, Machinarium, the debut Prince of Persia film trailer, and Ubisoft Montreal for listening to their fans feedback with Assassin’s Creed II.

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Those looking to live out their ultimate Star Trek fantasies via Cryptic’s exciting new MMO Star Trek Online won’t have to wait too much longer as Eurogamer brings word that the title will be shipping February 2, 2010 in NA and February 5 in Europe.

The confirmation comes on the heels of both Amazon.com and GameStop listing the game’s early February release on their respective pre-order pages.

So, there ya go…February will see the highly-anticipated launch of Star Trek Online. Will you be beaming up?

In an official blog post yesterday, Cryptic Studios invited players to participate in the closed beta for Star Trek Online happening later this year. For those who bought a six-month or lifetime subscription to Champions Online, Cryptic says not to worry; you’re already signed up. Hit the link above to check out the full article with all the details on the announcement.

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Star Trek Online is going to be a big deal…with such a huge universe to pull from and a literal legion of fans, the game has the potential to fulfill many a fantasy while providing a refined MMO experience few franchises can offer.

Well, we recently caught up with Cryptic’s Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online, to find out all about the highly-anticipated title and deliver some exclusive new in-game images (which you can click to enlarge).

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