--- title: "Star Trek Online Release Date: 2nd February 2010" canonical: "https://ptfarmada.com/answers/star-trek-online-release-date/" source: "https://ptfarmada.com/answers/star-trek-online-release-date/" date_published: "2026-09-09" date_modified: "2026-09-09" --- # When was Star Trek Online released? **Star Trek Online launched for Windows PC in North America on 2nd February 2010. Europe followed on 5th February 2010.** The released game was developed by **Cryptic Studios** and published by **Atari**. Its current age is calculated on the HTML page from the fixed 2nd February 2010 release date rather than hard-coded into this representation. Sources: [Atari launch announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/star-trektm-online-now-available-83351862.html) · [GameSpot — North America / Europe release dates](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-trek-online-engaging-feb-2/1100-6239309/) ## How old is Star Trek Online? The HTML page calculates the exact current age live in the browser from the fixed release date of 2nd February 2010. The release date is permanent; the displayed age updates automatically and is not hard-coded. ## Key release dates | Milestone | Date | Meaning | | --- | --- | --- | | Steam pre-purchase | 4th January 2010 | Pre-purchase opened; this was not the release date. | | Head Start | 29th January 2010 | Eligible pre-order customers entered before commercial launch. | | PC — North America | 2nd February 2010 | Original commercial release; Steam also lists this release date. | | PC — Europe | 5th February 2010 | European commercial release. | | Free-to-play | 17th January 2012 | Basic play no longer required a retail copy or subscription. | | PlayStation 4 / Xbox One | 6th September 2016 | Initial console rollout began in multiple North American regions. | | Epic Games Store | 6th October 2020 | Additional Windows storefront. | ## Verified timeline ### 7th September 2004 — The original Star Trek MMO project is announced Perpetual Entertainment announced that it had secured the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and publish a massively multiplayer online game based on Star Trek. Sources: [Perpetual press release — TrekCore archive](https://gaming.trekcore.com/startrekonline/pressrelease.html) ### January 2008 — Perpetual stops developing Star Trek Online P2, formerly Perpetual Entertainment, ceased work on Star Trek Online. WIRED reported that the Star Trek Online IP and game content were transferred to another developer. Source: [WIRED](https://www.wired.com/2008/01/star-trek-onlin-2/) ### 28th July 2008 — Cryptic Studios announces its Star Trek Online project Cryptic announced that it had secured global rights from CBS Consumer Products to develop and publish its version of Star Trek Online. Sources: [Cryptic press release — Gematsu archive](https://www.gematsu.com/2008/07/star-trek-online-announced-for-pc-console) · [GameSpot — Cryptic rebuild interview](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/qanda-cryptic-takes-star-trek-online/1100-6195719/) ### 10th August 2008 — Cryptic reveals the first gameplay footage Cryptic publicly showed the first Star Trek Online gameplay footage and detailed its rebuilt project during the Las Vegas Star Trek convention. Source: [GameSpot — convention reveal and rebuild interview](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/qanda-cryptic-takes-star-trek-online/1100-6195719/) ### 9th December 2008 — Atari's parent agrees to acquire Cryptic Studios Infogrames, Atari's parent, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Cryptic while STO was still in development. Source: [Game Developer](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/atari-parent-acquires-cryptic-studios) ### 22nd October 2009 — Closed beta begins Star Trek Online officially entered closed beta. Source: [Atari/Cryptic press-release reproduction](https://digitalchumps.com/2009/10/22/beam-us-up-star-trek-online-closed-beta-begins-today/) ### 12th–26th January 2010 — Open beta The public open beta began on 12th January and ran through 26th January. Source: [Atari](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/star-trektm-online-open-beta-begins-today-81241607.html) ### 29th January 2010 — Head Start begins Eligible pre-order players entered the full game before commercial release. Source: [Engadget](https://www.engadget.com/2010-01-29-star-trek-online-head-start-begins.html) ### 2nd February 2010 — North American commercial launch Star Trek Online launched for Windows PC in North America, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Atari. Steam lists the same release date; Steam pre-purchase had opened on 4th January. The launch model required a game purchase and subscription. Sources: [Atari launch announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/star-trektm-online-now-available-83351862.html) · [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/9900/Star_Trek_Online/) · [Valve pre-purchase announcement](https://store.steampowered.com/news/3301/) · [Atari subscription pricing](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/star-trektm-online-pre-release-promotions-and-subscription-pricing-81758662.html) ### 5th February 2010 — European commercial launch The European PC release followed three days later. Source: [GameSpot — North America / Europe release dates](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-trek-online-engaging-feb-2/1100-6239309/) ### 9th August 2011 — Perfect World completes its acquisition of Cryptic Perfect World completed its acquisition of Cryptic Studios from Atari. Sources: [Game Developer](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/atari-officially-closes-sale-of-i-champions-online-i-developer-cryptic-studios) · [Perfect World/Atari agreement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/perfect-world-and-atari-announce-agreement-for-the-acquisition-of-cryptic-studios-122849294.html) ### 17th January 2012 — Star Trek Online goes free-to-play The retail-copy/subscription requirement was removed for basic play. Source: [StarTrek.com](https://www.startrek.com/videos/star-trek-online-f2p-today) ### 6th September 2016 — Console launch begins STO began its PlayStation 4 and Xbox One rollout in multiple North American regions, with more regions following. Sources: [Arc](https://www.arcgames.com/en/corp-news/detail/10142482-star-trek-online-available-on-xbox-one-and-playstation%C2%AE4%21) · [Xbox Wire](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2016/09/06/star-trek-online-is-now-available-for-xbox-one/) ### 6th October 2020 — Epic Games Store availability STO became available through the Epic Games Store as another Windows PC storefront. Source: [Epic Games](https://store.epicgames.com/news/star-trek-online-brings-the-epic-games-store-to-the-final-frontier?lang=en-US) ### 1st February 2022 — Cryptic becomes part of Embracer Group Embracer's acquisition records list Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios as acquired on 1st February 2022. Source: [Embracer Group annual report](https://www.embracer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Embracer-Group-publishes-Annual-Report-20212022-220708-1.pdf) ### 8th April 2024–27th January 2026 — Modern stewardship changes The publisher became Arc Games on 8th April 2024. In February 2025, DECA's team said it had been working with Cryptic to transition development. Arc became independent through a management buyout on 1st December 2025. On 27th January 2026, Arc announced Jack Emmert would lead development of Cryptic's MMO portfolio; PC Gamer also reported that Cryptic had reassumed responsibility for STO and former DECA team members were part of Cryptic. Sources: [Arc rebrand](https://www.arcgames.com/news/11566663) · [MMORPG.com — DECA transition report](https://www.mmorpg.com/news/star-trek-onlines-deca-team-shares-a-letter-to-the-community-before-next-episode-and-15th-anniversary-tomorrow-2000134101) · [Arc independence](https://www.arcgames.com/news/11578947) · [Arc — Cryptic leadership](https://www.arcgames.com/news/11579658) · [PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/jack-emmert-returns-to-cryptic-ceo/) ## Alpha date No single authoritative public alpha-start date has been established. Internal and friends-and-family testing occurred before the formal beta programme, but the first exact public testing milestone used here is **22nd October 2009**, when closed beta began. ## Star Trek Online today - **Developer:** Cryptic Studios. - **Publisher:** Arc Games. - **Business model:** Free-to-play. - **Windows PC:** supported through current PC storefronts including Steam and Epic Games Store. - **PlayStation 4:** native console version, released 6th September 2016. - **PlayStation 5:** no separate native release; Sony lists the PS4 version as playable on PS5. - **Xbox One:** native console version, released 6th September 2016. - **Xbox Series X|S:** the same Xbox product supports Series X|S optimisation and Smart Delivery; no separate historical Series launch date is listed. Current sources: [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/9900/Star_Trek_Online/) · [Epic](https://store.epicgames.com/p/star-trek-online) · [PlayStation](https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/star-trek-online/) · [Xbox](https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/star-trek-online/C3LF9PCRP9RP) · [Arc Games — current STO release](https://www.arcgames.com/news/11581926) · [PC Gamer — Cryptic transition](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/jack-emmert-returns-to-cryptic-ceo/)