Paradox’s grand strategy Star Trek game releases this October

Paradox have announced that Star Trek: Infinite is coming out on October 12th. Infinite’s previous trailers already made it look like a “Stellaris in a different version of space” affair – which is by no means an unfavourable comparison – and the latest footage shows off more grand strategy shenanigans. Planet management. Lotsa menus. Expanding factions, sometimes peacefully if you prefer a clear conscience.

Star Trek: Infinite begins decades before The Next Generation, so never mind the TNG-era characters plastered on the game’s official artwork for now. I’m guessing that decades will pass while we build colonies and explore the stars, eventually syncing us up with those wrinkled TNG foreheads we know so well.

That’s an interesting period to explore, but in true grand strategy fashion, you’ll be able to build your own story too. Infinite plonks you in the captain’s chair and asks you to lead one of the universe’s four major factions: The Klingon Empire, United Federation Of Planets, Romulan Star Empire, or Cardassian Union. Each faction has its own traits for interstellar expansion and unique quests.

While Paradox built their other 4X-in-space juggernaut in-house, they’re only on publishing duties with Star Trek: Infinite. Development is being led by Nimble Giant Entertainment, the studio behind time-looping shooter Quantum League and 2016’s Master Of Orion reboot. Our Master Of Orion review was mixed at launch, but the developers seem to have stuck with the game as it’s since climbed up to a ‘Mostly Positive’ rating on Steam. Paradox are (sometimes infamously) known for supporting games for the long haul with free patches and/or paid expansions, but we’ll need to wait to see how literal the “Infinite” title is in this case.

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Should you want a taste of Star Trek grand strategy right this second, mods have you covered. The New Horizons mod already painted Stellaris over with a Star Trek-coloured coat of paint and we called the effort “pretty special.” There are probably several other Trek-related mods floating around the internet’s void as well.

Star Trek: Infinite releases on Steam on October 12th. I’m sad to say that the cool Klingon VO pack is locked as a pre-order bonus, though.