Paradox announce Star Trek: Infinite, a grand strategy game
From the devs behind the modern Master Of Orion
Paradox beamed down into Geoff Keighley's Level Up Pool Party today to announce Star Trek: Infinite, a new grand strategy game arriving this autumn. Stinfinte will let you take command of the Federation, Romulan Star Empire, Cardassian Union, or Klingon Empire. Beyond that, we don't know much. Oh, but the Borg are on the loose. See 'em in the trailer below.
"Star Trek: Infinite puts players in command of one of four major powers in the galaxy, each with individualized traits, stories, quests, and more to make their play feel distinct," according to the announcement. "With stunning visuals, difficult choices, and unique gameplay, this game allows players to experience a beloved franchise in a new way as they navigate contact with other empires and worlds."
Paradox say Infinite is "set a few decades before Star Trek: The Next Generation" so I don't know why the game's official artwork (up ↑ top) has TNG-era characters. Could they not have drawn younger versions of the gang? Baby Picard frowning at a baby Gowron who's gnawing on a brightly coloured teething toy shaped like a bat'leth. Adorable.
For better or worse, Paradox are not making Stinfinite themselves, merely publishing. The actual developers are Nimble Giant Entertainment, the studio behind time loop FPS Quantum League and 2016's modern take on Master Of Orion. Our review called that MOO "simply boring" but I do see Steam player reviews are sitting on 'mostly positive' these days. Thoughts, gang? (Y'all recently voted MOO 2 one of your favourite space games, by the way.) I mean, I know that if Paradox were the ones making it, they'd need at least a year of post-launch patches for the game to even begin to find its identity. Swings and roundabouts.
Star Trek: Infinite will launch this autumn on Windows and Mac. If you want more info, the game's website has none. Paradox say they will reveal more next Friday, the 16th of June. That's a little unofficial fan holiday known as Picard Day, in remembrance of the time Captain Jean-Luc Picard successfully contained his rage and resisted a powerful urge to vaporise arts & crafts the ship's children made in his honour.
In the meantime, you could have a Star Trek grand strategy experience by downloading the ST: New Horizons mod for Stellaris. That'll start you all the way back in the year 2150, before the launch of Jonathan Archer's NX-01, then run through centuries of future history with loads of playable factions.
Oh, and speaking of Star Trek... tonight also brought the announcement of Saltsea Chronicles. Made by the studio behind Mutazione, our Katharine says it "looks like interactive Star Trek at its finest."
NotE3 and Summer Game Fest 2023 is over for another year. You can find out all the latest news by visiting our E3 2023 hub, or you can catch up with our round-up posts of everything that was announced at Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Games Showcase, the PC Gaming Show, Day Of The Devs, and our top highlights from the Wholesome Direct.
