Star Trek: Online's Latest Update Embraces The Retro Trek Trend

In 1979, when the USS Enterprise was redesigned for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the aesthetics of Trek’s famous starships were given a second life. While Matt Jefferies designed the original USS Enterprise way back in 1964, he also partially redesigned it for the never-made 1970s TV series Star Trek: Phase II. When it came time for the first film, The Motion Picture, the iconic Enterprise was reimagined by artist Andrew Probert. “I spent weeks drawing and redrawing the nacelles,” Probert later recalled, referencing the now-famous look and feel of Trek’s movie-era starships.

Now, almost five decades after this upgrade, the retro-Trek starship trend is continuing with the popular MMO game, Star Trek: Online. As of this week, Star Trek: Online is releasing what they’re calling “a 15th Anniversary Starship Bundle” which gives players “exclusive variants and four new Starships inspired by the classic era of Star Trek films.”

The fifteenth anniversary is a celebration of Star Trek: Online’s launch back in 2010. Here are the details on the new ships from Star Trek: Online’s press release. (NOTE: These assets won’t drop until 12:00 PM PT/ 3:00 PM ET on March 11, 2025)

• Pioneer II Pilot Heavy Frigate [T6] – Also available to purchase separately “T6” version of a STO-original starship design introduced in the game’s Star Trek: The Original Series-themed Agents of Yesterday expansion. Also includes a bonus Star Trek Online era-inspired "Plymouth" variant.
• Ark Royal Intel Carrier [T6] – Also available to purchase separately Originally appearing in the classic Star Trek video game Starfleet Command II (2000), the Ark Royal is a massive Starfleet carrier that can launch fighters and shuttlecraft. Includes the bonus “Kitty Hawk” visual variant, reimagining the ship in a style inspired by starships from Star Trek: Picard. Includes a brand-new hangar pet item, the Type 4 shuttlecraft originally seen in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
• Kerala Temporal Battlecruiser [T6] – Also available to purchase separately A “TMP style” reinterpretation of the popular “Shepard” class starship from Star Trek: Discovery. Includes access to both the Shepard and Gagarin visual variants.

• Shangri-La Command Warship [T6] – Also available to purchase separately Designed by the legendary Starship artist Bill Krause, the Shangri-La was canonized in Star Trek: Picard. Now this powerful starship comes to STO. Includes access to several other visual variants, including the Constitution II.
• Theseus Miracle Worker Destroyer [T6] A powerful starship previously exclusive to the Infinity Lockbox, purchasing this bundle unlocks the Theseus Miracle Worker Destroyer for your whole account. Also included is a brand new, bundle-exclusive variant inspired by its original appearance in the Star Trek: Year 5 comic from IDW, the Theseus Prototype reimagines this ship for the TMP [The Motion Picture] era.
• Exeter Cruiser Refit Available as a per-character purchase in the Dilithium Store, this Tier 2 ship is included in the bundle as an account unlock. This provides access to the Exeter visual variant, a 25th-century take on the venerable Constitution-class starship.

There are some very deep cuts here, from connections to retro Trek games like Starfleet Command II to direct canonical references to Star Trek: Picard. Specifically, a Shangri-La class version of the Titan was the forerunner of the USS Titan-A, the lead ship of Picard Season 3. In Trek lore, that first USS Titan was commanded by Saavik, Spock’s protege from The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock.

In many ways, the TMP-era design renaissance was fully exemplified in Picard Season 3, because showrunner Terry Matalas and production designer Dave Blass wanted to pay tribute to the 1979-1991 era of those Trek films. “The refit Constitution-Class [TMP] is the best starship design ever made,” Matalas told Inverse in 2023. “Perfectly clean, retro lines.”

With the latest Star Trek: Online starship drop, it's clear these retro lines are still a big part of why people love Trek’s spacecraft. This new bundle also comes at a time when Star Trek: Online is releasing its latest season, Unveiled, on PlayStation and Xbox, after a prior PC release.