FiringSquad has learned that publisher Bethesda Softworks, the current owner of the video-PC game rights to the Star Trek franchise, will not be publishing a game based on the upcoming J.J. Abrams directed Star Trek movie. Company spokesperson Pete Hines confirmed this news with FiringSquad today but added, "Really interested in seeing the movie though. If anyone can make that movie awesome, it would be J.J. Abrams." Hines also stated that Bethesda Softworks's sister company, the new MMO based developer ZeniMax Online Studios, will not be taking over the development of Star Trek Online, the long-in-development MMO that has recently been let go by its now former developer Perpetual Entertainment. Hines told us, "I don’t believe that is anything that we or ZOS is interested in or actively pursuing. "
Bethesda Softworks has been the official licensee of the Star Trek game franchise for the past few years, publishing (but not developing themselves) a number of Trek titles for the PC and consoles, all of them centered around some kind of space combat. When asked if Bethesda Softworks was going to continue publishing Trek games or if it would let its current license expire, Hines only told us cryptically, "TBD."
