Star Trek: Resurgence Brings Back Jonathan Frakes as William Riker

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 saw Jonathan Frakes reuniting with his Star Trek: The Next Generation co-stars as William Riker, and now he's back as the characters again in the upcoming video game Star Trek: Resurgence. Dramatic Labs, the studio behind the game, revealed on Monday via StarTrek.com, Frakes will voice Riker in the new game, which takes place shortly after the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, in the year 2280. That should put Riker as the new captain of the USS Titan (the Luna-class ship, not the original or the Titan-A), having left the Enterprise-D behind in Star Trek: Nemesis. Frakes previously voiced Riker in episodes of the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

"We took inspiration for our premise from an early The Next Generation episode 'The Last Outpost' that first introduced the Tkon Empire," said Star Trek: Resurgence co-writer Andrew Grant. "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. And of course, we're big fans of Jonathan Frakes!"

"We weren't going to include Riker if we couldn't have Jonathan Frakes return to the role," said Grant's fellow Star Trek: Resurgence co-writer, Dan Martin. "It was an absolute joy to work with him as he brought his classic Riker charm and command to our game."

He continues, "From a story perspective, Riker also has a nice connection with Jara Rydek, the First Officer on the U.S.S. Resolute and one of our playable character. After all, who knows more about being a First Officer than William T. Riker?"

What Star Trek characters are in Star Trek: Resurgence?

Rike isn't the only familiar face to greet Star Trek fans in Star Trek: Resurgence. Ambassador Spock, voiced by Piotr Michael, also has a role to play in the Star Trek: Resurgence story.

"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. 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!). Striking that balance is always essential."

Star Trek: Resurgence Release Date

In a previous interview, Martin told ComicBook.com about the development team's ambitions to make Star Trek: Resurgence as close as possible to a playable Star Trek movie. "Our goal from the outset was to deliver on a broad Star Trek experience – from the camaraderie and conflict among the crew to encounters with aliens to exploring mysteries to big action set-pieces with big stakes," he said. "The game is set shortly after the TNG era of shows and movies, so stylistically, that's our jumping-off point. But this game is not episodic – we're telling one epic story from start to finish, putting the player at the heart of a grand adventure, where they're the star of one of the feature films."

Announced at The Game Awards in 2021, Star Trek: Resurgence was delayed from its original 2022 launch date. Star Trek: Resurgence now launches worldwide on May 23rd for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and exclusively on the Epic Games Store for PC.