Paradox Interactive has announced that it will be discontinuing the development of Star Trek: Infinite. Only 6 months after the release, there will be no more updates, and expansions will also not be released. Fans are drawing their Bat’leths, unlocking the photon torpedoes, and unleashing a full barrage of hate on the Steam reviews.
What kind of game is this? It was actually a sure thing:
- The strategy specialists from Paradox have been developing and refining the brilliant sci-fi epic “Stellaris” since 2016, for which there is already a good Star Trek mod.
- Now they wanted to basically create an accessible Stellaris with a Star Trek skin to attract the fans. They commissioned a South American studio to implement it.
- The interest in the game and the anticipation were high because there hadn’t been a 4x game in the Star Trek universe for 25 years, since Star Trek: Birth of the Federation.
The game was released on October 12, 2023, but success eluded it, and now fans are facing a harsh awakening.
This is the announcement from Paradox: On March 27, they informed fans that Star Trek: Infinite will not receive any further updates (via paradox).
They do not provide any reasons; instead, they express their gratitude and bow deeply in both directions.
Steam Reviews Drop to “Very Negative”
This is the reaction: The reactions are devastating: People are venting their frustration through negative reviews on Steam. The ratings have now dropped to a dark red “Very Negative” over the last 30 days. People are writing:
- “That’s how you can blacklist yourself as a developer”
- “Absolute disgrace”
- “How can you ruin such a license?”
How did Star Trek Infinite perform? Poorly. At launch, the game peaked at only 5,526 players. Now there are about 120 online at peak.
Not even a month after release, Star Trek Infinite had already dropped below 1,000 players and could not recover from it.
And is that why they are discontinuing it? As GameStar speculates, issues with the developer Nimble Giant might also have contributed to the decision to halt development. The South American studio belongs to the struggling gaming giant Embracer Group, which has already cut jobs and laid off employees from the studio twice in recent months.
Perhaps they can no longer continue the development, and Paradox can or wants not to provide a replacement.
Buyers Feel Paradox is Breaking the Deal, Feel Betrayed
What is the problem? Star Trek: Infinite simply wasn’t good at release. Any “word of mouth” or hype fell through due to reviews. The reactions were rather lukewarm to restrained, discouraging purchases.
In any case, the enthusiasm for the game was not as great as Paradox had hoped, especially since Stellaris already had a fan-made Star Trek mod that many were satisfied with.
After the mediocre launch of Star Trek Infinite, players hoped that Paradox would at least continue to develop the game, just like the big other franchises that get better over time.
The fact that they are now giving up the title so early is seen as a breach of this deal.
Especially since Paradox is already under criticism for the botched release of Cities Skylines 2 and the end of Imperator: Rome.
Why wasn’t Star Trek Infinite good? The concept of Stellaris prescribes that you slowly build up in a secluded part of the galaxy and can spread and colonize new planets until you encounter the first aliens you deal with.
In Star Trek Infinite, you encounter the alien races right at the beginning of the game, but each of the 4 races (Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians) has a vast hinterland behind them that they can colonize endlessly, leading to a crude gameplay experience.
Star Trek: Infinite was clearly inferior to Stellaris in its basic concept and simply did not ignite.
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