'Star Trek Online' Remodels Deep Space Nine for 'Victory Is Life'

More than 25 years after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine debuted, Star Trek Online is putting the spotlight on the titular space station for its next expansion, Victory Is Life.

Star Trek Online is also taking the opportunity to give Deep Space Nine a visual upgrade. It was already revealed that the interior of the space station would be updated with the new expansion. Now Arc Games has revealed that the exterior of the station will receive an update as well.

Star Trek Online turned to 3D modeler Tobias Richter for Deep Space Nine's update. Tobias created the Enterprise-D redesign for the HD remaster of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"I tackled the 3 DS9 models - the station, the Defiant and the Runabout - when there was a rumor that there might be a DS9 HD remastering," Tobias revealed of his past work in an interview for the Star Trek Online blog. "The Enterprise D model that I did a couple of years back was used in the remastering of TNG (some other of my models too), so I thought there might be a chance to have them use my models as well should they decide to go forward. Well, it almost happened. Almost...

"But with that in mind, I, of course, wanted to be as exact as possible with all three models. I had all the literature available and even consulted with the original designers about some issues that I couldn't quite make out (e.g. the angle in which the horizontal pylons go from the outer ring to the inner ring). For the DS9, it took probably around 2 weeks to model it, and another 2 weeks to texture and light it."

In Victory is Life, Star Trek Online players take their captains, ships, and crew on a maiden journey to the Gamma Quadrant, where they will discover what is left of Deep Space Nine. The space station that served as the setting of the Star Trek television series of the same name for seven seasons was severely damaged by the Hur'q, a new enemy who recently made their presence known to the Alliance in the featured episode "Scylla and Charybdis." Players will team up with the Deep Space Nine crew members to defend the galaxy from this new threat.

The Jem'Hadar, the genetically engineered soldiers of the Dominion, will be made playable for the first time in Star Trek Online when Victory is Life releases. The Jem'Hadar faction starts at level 60 with a variety of completed Reputations, Specialization Trees, Duty Officer tracks, and R&D progress.

Victory is Life also increases Star Trek Online's level cap to 65, and introduces a new queue, added progression system, and all-new Sector Battlezone, a new gameplay feature that takes players into a war between the stars to save the Gamma Quadrant.

Look for Star Trek Online's new Victory is Life expansion to launch in June.