I love a good Star Trek game. Unfortunately, there haven't historically been very many good Star Trek games. That began to change in recent years, with the release of Star Trek Bridge Crew on various VR platforms, followed by the very fun (but kinda janky) Star Trek: Resurgence in 2023. And at this year's Gamescom, a couple of wildly different Star Trek games were announced that look to carry the torch forward.
Coming at some point later this year is the absolutely wild-looking Star Trek: Infection. Infection is a VR title, with players taking the role of a Vulcan officer on the USS Lumen, a ship that has been incapacitated by an alien organism. The player character has been infected (obvs), and has to explore the ship looking for a Star Trek-y solution while fighting off the horrors surfacing in their mind. The game is partially developed by Broken Mirror Games, which is a division of Bloober Team, so don't expect them to go easy on the horror elements.
Star Trek: Infection is expected to release sometime in 2025 on Meta Quest 2 and 3, followed quickly by a Steam VR release.
At the far end of the spectrum from Star Trek: Infection comes the announcement of Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown.
Voyager: Unknown (I've decided that's what we're calling it) takes place in the Delta Quadrant, and is set sometime during the run of the beloved TV series. The game is listed as "a story-based survival strategy game", which is...well...exactly what it should be. According to today's PR release, Voyager: Unknown "blends exploration, ship & resource management, roguelite elements, and meaningful choices. Experience crew dynamics and a fresh take on a beloved sci-fi universe — with what-if scenarios that open up new possibilities." There is no word on a release date yet, but the game is being co-developed by Daedalic, so expect a high bar of quality when it arrived.
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to jump into either (both!) of these games. While they look to be very distinct experiences, I can't help but be excited by the the resurgence of Star Trek in the video game space. We're in a bit of a Star Trek renascence, and it's great to see that popularity reflected in gaming as well as television.
