paramount posts

With Star Trek Online now, well, online the folks at Paramount are expanding the use of their huge sci-fi franchise to other game outlets. Today GameForge announced they have signed a deal to license the classic Trek TV series as a basis for making free browser-based game titles.

Details about the games have yet to be announced, including when they will go live. We are hoping one of them will be "Kill the Tribble" but that's just us. The German-based Gameforge already operates over 20 browser based game titles all of which can be accessed at the http://mmogame.com/ web site.

[Via email press release]

Star Trek: D-A-C , the game based on the blockbuster movie, releases today for he PC and PlayStation 3. This video highlights the enhancements that have been added on to the Assault and Conquest gameplay modes. The game is available through Steam and retails for $9.99.

"Star Trek: D-A-C is a fast-paced, top-down space shooter inspired by the new motion picture. This pick-up and play game allows you and your friends to choose from five classes of starships (including the all-new U.S.S. Enterprise flagship class) and battle it out online! Command the large and durable Flagship, the nimble Fighter, the devastating Bomber, the indispensable Support Frigate, or obliterate hostiles with the powerful Missile Cruiser. Each ship class has their own unique strengths and capabilities."

Download HD Star Trek: D-A-C Assault and Conquest Mode Video (62 MB)

Paramount Pictures has a number of film franchises that have been turned into games over the years; Mission Impossible, Top Gun and of course the boatloads of Star Trek games that at one point in the 1990s had four publishers handling various games in the series. Activision consolidated the Star Trek franchise into one brand in the late 1990s before cutting ties with Paramount and the Trek brand in 2004; Bethesda Softworks took over the franchise in 2006 but their Trek games got mediocre reviews and sales.

Now it looks like Paramount is moving into game publishing with Variety reporting that the studios plans to either partially or completely fund games based on their movie properties. The first games haven't been announced but are expected to be released later this year. One wonders if Paramount might decided to take back Bethesda's Trek license for themselves, especially with a Trek movie revamp coming up in May 2009.