Paramount Games Studio is swinging for the fences with its first major exclusive game announcement. Star Trek: Shadow Frontier, coming from Bloober Team, will task the studio behind the acclaimed Silent Hill 2 remake with creating what executives hope will be the definitive Star Trek video game.
The game stars Michelle Forbes reprising her role as Ro Laren, a beloved Next Generation character who finds herself stranded on an alien world. Rather than lean into Bloober's horror pedigree, the project positions itself as a psychological thriller in the mold of Ninja Theory's Hellblade series, exploring Ro's internal struggle for survival on hostile terrain.
Shawn Kittelsen, senior vice president of creative and production at Paramount Games Studio, laid out the ambition plainly. "The goal is for Bloober to make the best Star Trek game of all time, if we can bring that to life," he told IGN. That's a tall order. The franchise has spawned numerous titles over decades, from Birth of the Federation and Bridge Commander to the long-running Star Trek Online.
The thematic direction reflects Star Trek's unique storytelling flexibility. Kittelsen pointed out that the franchise has tackled everything from Sherlock Holmes-style mysteries to galactic warfare, giving Bloober creative latitude to venture beyond their established horror identity.
Gene Roddenberry famously resisted interpersonal conflict between crew members in the original series and its successors. That creative constraint paradoxically drove writers inward, focusing on characters' psychological and emotional journeys. Star Trek: Shadow Frontier doubles down on that approach, centering Ro's internal conflict as she navigates survival on an unknown planet.
"Ro Laren never got her moment in the spotlight enough for the fans who loved her on The Next Generation," Kittelsen explained. "So bringing her back and having an adventure focused on her, and then giving her that deeper inner psychological conflict to work with, is right up Bloober's alley."
The game represents Bloober's opportunity to demonstrate range beyond the horror genre. Kittelsen emphasized that while the project will showcase the studio's cinematic storytelling and third-person action expertise, it will maintain the hopeful, optimistic values inherent to Starfleet. Even in darker moments, the game aims to anchor itself in Star Trek's core philosophy of understanding and communication rather than destruction.
Paramount Games Studio, a newly consolidated division combining all Paramount and Skydance gaming operations, took control of the project after encountering it during early development. Initially in the works at another publisher, the game caught the studio's attention through successive improvements in its vertical slice. Rather than leave it in outside hands, Paramount decided to invest in the title and handle publishing itself, betting on better fan activation and tighter creative collaboration.
"We've had a really good relationship working with them," Kittelsen said of Bloober. "As they developed a vertical slice that went from good to better to best, it was clear that we felt there was more potential for this game."
Star Trek: Shadow Frontier is scheduled for 2027 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. The project sits further along in development than Paramount's other high-profile reveal, the Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames action title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, which remains early in production. The publisher is also bringing Amy Hennig's Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra to market, though that game won't arrive before 2027 at the earliest.
Author Emily Chen: "Bloober has earned credibility with horror, but betting the studio's first major franchise venture on a psychological thriller is smart positioning, not a detour, and Paramount's commitment to quality over speed feels refreshingly antithetical to the current gaming landscape."
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