2026 has been a big year for Star Trek games and we just got another surprise announcement. Star Trek: Shadow Frontier is an upcoming action horror title announced this afternoon at Summer Game Fest. The game due next year on PC and consoles stars Michelle Forbes reprising her Star Trek: The Next Generation role as Ro Laren.

A Star Trek horror game made by a developer that’s all about horror games

Today’s announcement came from Bloober Team and the newly formed Paramount Games division.  Bloober is no stranger to horror titles, starting with a franchise called Layers of Fear before expanding into new properties including The Medium and Cronos: The New Dawn. The studio is no stranger to others’ IP as well, having developed a Blair Witch horror game in the past as well.

Speaking with IGN, Paramount Games’ Shawn Kittelsen called Shadow Frontier a “psychological thriller,” adding, “if you like a really thrilling survival adventure, this is the game for you. If you’re a Star Trek fan who wants to dig into a character like Ro Laren, this is the game for you.”

While players will use standard Starfleet equipment like phasers and tricorders, “[Shadow Frontier]“ is not a Star Trek game like you’ve ever played before,” added Kittelsen (who may or may not be familiar with Star Trek: Infection).

Michelle Forbes’ likeness and voice will be used in Shadow Frontier.

Shadow Frontier sets Ro Laren off on a horrific mystery

Bloober Team’s Michał Gembicki told the outlet that Strange Frontier will stand Ro Laren on an uncharted planet that doubles as “a bit of a graveyard for ships,” tasking her “to have to figure out what happened there and why is there so much wreckage.”

“After crashing onto a distant planet overtaken by a strange consciousness, Ro Laren must survive in an environment that is as breathtaking as it is lethal,” Paramount Games and Bloober Team said of the title as part of its debut trailer, shown below.

Screenshot from Shadow Frontier.

“In true Star Trek fashion, Ro’s mission is driven by duty and purpose,” the trailer’s description continues. “But here, discovery comes at a terrible cost. The more she uncovers, the deeper she is pulled into a corrupted labyrinth where her memories twist, and the planet threatens to sever her connection to reality. Only by solving the mysteries of this strange world can Ro hope to make peace with the demons of her past, boldly going into the heart of darkness like never before.”

Screenshot from Shadow Frontier.

Forbes last returned to the franchise for the third season of Star Trek: Picard in 2023, which was set in the early 25th century. Looking at the announcement trailer, A TNG-era Starfleet combadge suggests that Shadow Frontier is set at some point during the USS Enterprise-D’s adventures, but that’s yet to be confirmed by Paramount or Bloober Team.

Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren in “Imposters” Episode 305, Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Trae Patton/ Paramount+. ©2021 Viacom, International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More big Trek games teased

Paramount Games is a brand new division launched by Paramount Skydance and they used this new announcement to float that more big-budget (or “triple-A”) Star Trek video games could be on the way, especially if Shadow Frontier is successful. “If you’ve been waiting for a triple-A Star Trek game, congratulations you’re getting one,” Kittelsen told IGN. “And hopefully this is the first of many.”

You can see more from Paramount Games exec Shawn Kittelsen and Bloober Teams’ Michal Gembicki from Game Fest below.

Star Trek: Shadow Frontier is planning a 2027 release on Windows PC via Steam, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.

Steve Wright is a longtime Trek fan, an experienced Australian-based games journalist, and the editor-in-chief of Stevivor.com, the country’s leading independent video games site.