Star Trek: Picard’s Official Replacement Kicks Off A New Era
Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond.
Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard has one of the most enduring legacies of any character in science fiction history, becoming the defining image of a Starfleet captain for an entire generation of fans. Brought to life by Patrick Stewart across seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, four feature films, and three seasons of Star Trek: Picard, he will always hold a special place in fans' hearts.
Star Trek: Picard ultimately gave the character a fitting final chapter, particularly with its third season, which reunited much of The Next Generation cast for one last major adventure. While the series was not always universally embraced, its conclusion offered longtime fans a sense of closure and allowed characters like Riker, Data, Worf, Beverly Crusher, and Geordi La Forge to share the screen again decades after TNG ended.
Since Picard wrapped up in 2023, however, there has been a noticeable void when it comes to stories centered specifically on that era and its characters. The franchise has continued moving forward through new series and games, but fans of The Next Generation have had relatively few opportunities to return to the crew that helped define Star Trek for so long. That is, until the announcement of 2027's official Picard replacement.
Picard's 2027 Replacement Brings Back A Next Generation Legend
Star Trek is making a major return to The Next Generation era in an upcoming 2027 release titled Shadow Frontier, which will bring back fan-favorite Ro Laren, voiced by the one and only Michelle Forbes. In that sense, Shadow Frontier will effectively serve as the first major new project built around a The Next Generation character since Star Trek: Picard ended in 2023, even if it takes the franchise somewhere considerably darker.
Ro's return is especially significant given that Picard season 3 marked Michelle Forbes' first appearance as the character in nearly three decades, and the upcoming game will give her the spotlight as its protagonist. Developed by Bloober Team, the studio behind the acclaimed Silent Hill 2 remake and Cronos: The New Dawn, Star Trek: Shadow Frontier is a mature, story-driven third-person action-adventure with a strong psychological-horror bent.
The game's premise is compelling, as Ro answers a distress call before crash-landing on an uncharted planet littered with wrecked starships, where a mysterious consciousness has corrupted the environment and begun invading her mind. Gameplay will mix exploration, combat, puzzles, and cinematic sequences, with players deciding whether to confront the planet's creatures or evade them altogether.
Familiar Star Trek technology is also central to the experience, including a tricorder used to scan the environment and a phaser that doubles as both a weapon and puzzle-solving tool.
Shadow Frontier Is Expected To Arrive Next Year
Star Trek: Shadow Frontier is currently scheduled to launch sometime in 2027, although Bloober Team and Paramount Games have not announced a specific date or narrower release window just yet. The game was officially revealed in June 2026, with its announcement confirming versions for PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X/S, and PC. Its Steam page currently lists the release simply as "Coming Soon," so there is no indication yet whether fans should expect it early or later in the year.
The timing is nevertheless particularly fitting for a project so closely connected to The Next Generation, as September 2027 will mark 40 years since TNG first premiered in 1987, making Shadow Frontier part of an especially significant anniversary year for Picard's era of the franchise. For now, the exciting new Star Trek project can be wishlisted on Steam while fans wait for Paramount and Bloober Team to narrow down that 2027 launch date.
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