Star Trek Online Interview

VideoGamer caught up with Star Trek Online executive producer Craig Zinkievich for a pretty candid three-page interview about the MMORPG’s reception, the team’s plans for additional content, and more. Apparently the console version is “on the backburner”, as most people probably expected:

Q: Can you tell us how many people are paying to play STO? People like to compare that number with the equivalent from other MMOs. How do you view that?

CZ: We don’t tend to talk about numbers. It’s something in the industry that, personally I’m not quite sure why it’s a gigantic secret, why people hold that a little close. They’re for the most part worried that those numbers might be analysed in a way that isn’t favourable. Myself, I think it’s just interesting data. But at Cryptic we don’t reveal our numbers. That being said, the most difficult thing is looking at those numbers, and then people use those numbers to gauge success of a game, right? And there are all sorts of different ways that a game is actually successful. What are the goals of the game? Games with different budgets, games with different goals, games with different expectations as to what their community will be and what they want it to be – it’s a lot more complex of a question to gauge the success of a game than just looking at the subscriber numbers, I think.

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Q: The console version of Champions Online, Cryptic’s other MMO, has been scrapped. Where are we at with the console version of Star Trek Online?

CZ: It’s pretty much in the same boat as the Champions console version right now. It’s something we can readily do in terms of technology. We’ve had it up and running on certain consoles, and had plans and designs in order to take advantage of those platforms. But as it stands right now it’s a little difficult to make that final leap on the business side of things. So, currently, just like Champions, the console version of Star Trek Online is on the backburner.