Death Rattle Game:
Star Trek Online | Release Date TBA
Nearly half a century of obsessive geekdom culminated in three words: Star. Trek. Online. After years of fair to pathetic game efforts, dorks of all ages would finally be able to raise their own Kirk, Spock, Quark or Worf from cadet to Starfleet Admiral, in a living, breathing Trek universe set in the 25th century, stuffed with plenty of PvP and ship-to-ship combat.

Heads burst, websites sprung up, and forums exploded as rabid fans clamored to plunk down a monthly fee to boldly go where no server had gone before. That flight would be delayed, indefinitely.

Above: Phasers set on fail

Fallout
Alas, Star Trek Online was not to be. Not for Perpetual Entertainment anyway, as that unfinished game would be the company’s final frontier. Its own staffers were said to be displeased when STO began to shift to a more casual focus years into development, but that was just the first of many kicks to the face.

Above: Someday, her prince shall come... *sigh*

To put more resources into STO, Perpetual abruptly canceled Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, an MMO with years of time invested and on the cusp of its beta stage. We won't even get started on the PR lawsuit stemming from the alleged commissioning of promotional materials for games Perpetual would never finish and then neglect to pay for. Nasty business, that.

Hope for Resurrection?
Maybe. Perpetual Entertainment is dead, though somehow, still lives on through various names and limited liability satellite companies we can’t begin to understand. Happily, all is not lost for Star Trek Online. Development has been gifted to an undisclosed Bay Area developer and the game's static and barren website is still up and running online, unlike Perpetual's.