We’re fans of the final frontier around these parts, so when our combadges chirruped with news of a Star Trek game for Nintendo’s newest console, our anticipation grew like a clutch of tribbles in a grain silo.
As you’ll have gathered from the title, Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Universe is set in the TNG-DS9-VOY era and sees you charged with Captain Janeway’s mission of getting her crew home safely after being thrown across the other side of the galaxy by an alien force.
If you’ve caught the show in the 30+ years since it debuted, you’ll know that the Delta quadrant is fraught with hazards of all shapes and sizes — cube-shaped and otherwise — but German dev gameXcite is letting you make different decisions on your journey, exploring what-if scenarios that diverge from canon and really put you in the Captain’s chair.
We caught up with Game Director Daniel Bernard via email to get confirmation on a couple of points and find out a little more ahead of the demo hitting the eShop on Monday and the game’s launch in a couple of weeks…
You said in your combat-focused dev video that you took inspiration from Starfleet Command, Bridge Commander, and Legacy. Beyond Star Trek, what other games did you have in mind when designing Across the Unknown? (Aside: I love FTL and still hold out hope of a Switch port!)
While we benchmarked all kinds of space games — from FTL to Everspace 2 — we wanted the combat to be as close as possible to what is seen in the show; how it would feel like to be the captain of a Starfleet cruiser, not a fighter jet.
Gene Roddenberry envisioned Captain Kirk as a “space-age Captain Horatio Hornblower,” a decisive leader on long voyages, drawing from C.S. Forester’s novels about a British naval captain during the Napoleonic Wars. As the Voyager captain, Captain Janeway carries on this tradition.
Naval warfare tactics influence space battles and make them more authentic. Even cloaked vessels are analogues to submerged vessels like German U-boats from WWII and submarines from naval battles that are difficult to detect. We wanted our game to be in this tradition.
How long have you been working on the game, and when did the Switch 2 version enter the conversation?
We started with the first concepts in summer of 2022, but it took us quite some time to secure the Star Trek license and a publisher. We also first produced a prototype to test some ideas and align everyone on the vision. Full production finally began in September of 2023.
Because the handheld format is ideal for our gameplay style, we wanted to do a Switch 2 version as soon as the console was announced, but of course it took some time to get dev kits. Porting finally started in the fall of 2025.
Voyager seems well-suited to a roguelike structure, with a clear goal/journey and lots of decisions Janeway was forced to make along the way. I imagine several fan-favourite topics jumped out (Tuvix, Kim’s non-promotion, warp 10 lizard babies!), but could you talk about some perhaps less obvious elements of the show that you’ve integrated?
First of all, we should clarify that the game is not a true roguelike. While we started out with this concept, we quickly learned that due to the strong narrative and simple length of the show (and the journey within), that structure was not a great fit. Instead of quick “runs” where you constantly fail and restart, you are playing a 15-hour campaign to bring Voyager home.
To keep subsequent playthroughs interesting, not only can you make very different ship builds — leaning into research and resource production or offensive and defensive capabilities — but also narrative choices that lead to interesting ‘What if’ scenarios and new ways to solve questlines.
For example, you may offer amnesty to Seska, adding a capable hero, but potentially lose Chakotay out of protest. Or you may find a way to reprogram the Dreadnought that B’Elanna originally used against the Cardassians to become an ally. Lastly, what would happen if you found a cloaking device for Voyager?
From the outside, Across the Unknown seems a PC-first experience. What’s been the biggest design challenge adapting it for consoles, and specifically for Switch 2? Mouse mode feels like a natural fit, but the other consoles don’t have that.
Indeed, the biggest challenge are the controls – that the game works well with a gamepad. But there are also many people who play PC games with a gamepad from their couch or on handheld devices such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally. For this reason we have designed the UI/UX from the beginning to work well with both mouse and gamepad.
On average, how long might a successful trip home to the Alpha Quadrant take? Are multiple ‘runs’ part of the gameplay loop, or are we looking at a longer journey?
Depending on the amount of side missions and exploration a player does, the first trip takes between 15 and 20 hours. As explained above, multiple runs are not part of the game loop, but with branching narrative and different options to build out Voyager, there is plenty of incentive to replay the game.
Was there anything you considered including that was ‘off-limits’ for whatever reason (beyond the scope of the project/direction from the licence holder/etc.)?
Our campaign follows the events of the series and tells the story of established characters, so while we are giving the player meaningful choices, we took great care that nothing would feel out of place. As a Starfleet ship, you are not outright raiding other species, for example.
Related, are there any characters or elements from the wider franchise in the game, or is this strictly Voyager-only? With so many shows and timelines/universes, the possibilities feel endless (and daunting?).
While we have the rights for all ‘Next Generation’-era shows, we are so far concentrating on characters and events from the Voyager TV show – this is also the most logical choice since Voyager is so far away from other Federation ships.
On your Steam page you say that “partial voice over as well as updated music and sound effects” will come in the final version – can you elaborate on that? Will lines and music from the show be in the game?
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown will feature fully voiced logs by Tuvok and Tom Paris at the start of each sector. It was important to us to bring back the original actors in a way that felt meaningful. These logs recap recent events and set the stage for the mission ahead. The characters are voiced by their original actors, Tim Russ and Robert Duncan McNeill.
Finally, we are also including the main theme from the show for the full release of the game!
In terms of art, do you get access to materials and archival docs from CBS for art assets, or does that all come from personal research?
Both. While our licensor provides us with certain assets from their archives, remember that Voyager is a fairly old show, so most things — such as ship models — are not available in the formats we would need and thus are re-created based on our research.
Trekkies are a notoriously detail-oriented bunch and quick to offer, erm, ‘feedback’. How does the team cope with the weight of expectation from players who can be very hard to please?
We were quite nervous before releasing the first trailers and then the demo, but luckily the majority of feedback has been very positive. [Note. The demo was released earlier on other platforms.] Most players realise that we are an indie team but absolutely love the IP – because we are fans ourselves!
For that reason we were very thankful for the feedback and able to correct many small mistakes or lore inconsistencies – which was exactly the reason why we have put out the demo during development!
Lastly, we’ve got to ask: If you’re in Janeway’s shoes, do you separate Tuvix or not?
I absolutely would. But as a player, we are allowing you to ask, “What if not…?”
Many thanks to Daniel for his responses, and to Michal at 32-33 for setting things up.
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown launches on Switch 2 and other platforms on 18th February for $39.99 / £32.49, although there’s a 10% discount in the eShop live until launch day. The demo goes live on the Switch 2 eShop on Monday 9th February.
Let us know below if you’re looking forward to the journey. And we’re happy to take your thoughts on the collective noun for tribbles while you’re at it.
