Two Classic Characters Will Be in the 'Star Trek: Resurgence' Video Game, One Voiced by Jonathan Frakes

Image: Dramatic Labs.

MAY 3, 2023 - Fresh off his appearance onscreen and behind the camera in season three of Star Trek: Picard, Jonathan Frakes will once more take on the role of Will Riker, this time in the game Star Trek: Resurgence which launches later this month. 

Dramatic Labs is the developer behind the third-person, choice-driven adventure game that tells an original story set in the year 2380, shortly after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation feature films.

Previous announcements revealed that players take on the role of two principal characters stationed aboard the starship U.S.S. Resolute. Playing as First Officer Jara Rydek and engineering crewperson Carter Diaz, players work to unravel a mystery involving two alien civilizations on the brink of war. The player’s decisions in-game will have a direct impact on the course the story takes.

This week StarTrek.com announced that the game will also feature appearances from new and returning characters, including the legendary William T. Riker, reprised by Jonathan Frakes, and Ambassador Spock, voiced by Piotr Michael. Riker's role in the narrative is inspired by an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"We took inspiration for our premise from an early The Next Generation episode 'The Last Outpost' that first introduced the Tkon Empire," Andrew Grant, one of the Resurgence writers, told StarTrek.com. "Riker featured prominently in the episode. He has direct experience with Portal Six Three, guardian of the Tkon Empire, so including him in our narrative felt like an organic fit."

Grant said that he and fellow writer Dan Martin are huge fans of Frakes, making his addition even more desirable to them. In fact, Martin said had Frakes declined, they would have gone a different direction altogether.

“We weren’t going to include Riker if we couldn’t have Jonathan Frakes return to the role,” he said. “It was an absolute joy to work with him as he brought his classic Riker charm and command to our game.”

The other famous first officer included in the game is none other than Mr. Spock. Of course, to include Spock meant having to recast the role as Leonard Nimoy, who originated it, died in 2015. 

Voiced by Piotr Michael, the Spock of the game is the elder Ambassador Spock who appeared in the classic TNG two-parter “Unification.”

“It’s always a thrill to be able to weave in iconic characters no matter what the franchise, but that was especially true with a character like Spock,” Grant said. “For the fans, it’s always fun to interact with and make an impression on a character you know so well, and as writers, Spock brings so much gravitas and sheer presence to every scene he’s in.”

For the writers, the true test was finding the right balance between the well-known existing characters and new characters like Jara Rydek and Carter Diaz who needed room to grow into their roles in the Star Trek universe.

“That interaction and intersection with familiar characters is always nice, but at the same time, you want to introduce original characters whose fates are to be determined (more often than not, by the player!),” Grant said. “Striking that balance is always essential.”

Star Trek: Resurgence will be available worldwide on May 23, 2023, for the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles and exclusively on the Epic Games Store for PC.