For fans of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” there’s some surprising and welcome news. The actress Michelle Forbes, who played Ensign Ro Laren in eight episodes of that iconic series and one episode of “Star Trek: Picard” in 2023, has returned to the franchise. In 2027, Forbes will reprise her role as Ro in a new video game called “Star Trek: Shadow Frontier.” The news was announced at the 2026 Summer Game Fest on June 6. The new game trailer presented a creepy, haunted spaceship vibe, and the game is set to push the Star Trek franchise further into the realm of horror than ever before. (That said, there are plenty of scary episodes of Star Trek, as true Trekkies know!)
The new game comes from Bloober Team and Paramount Games, and according to IGN, is a “psychological thriller.” According to Shawn Kittelsen, speaking for Paramount Games, “If you like a really thrilling survival adventure, this is the game for you. If you’re a Star Trek fan who wants to dig into a character like Ro Laren, this is the game for you.”
Back in 1991, in “The Next Generation” Season 5, Ro joined the crew as a rebellious officer who had to prove herself to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). As a member of the Bajoran species, Ro was famous for her no-nonsense attitude and her willingness to make hard choices, which sometimes involved taking huge risks and blowing things up. As a late addition to the TNG crew, Ro didn’t appear in as many episodes as you might think, and eventually, betrayed Picard in the second-to-last episode of TNG ever, “Preemptive Strike.”
In “Picard” Season 3, in 2023. Ro returned in the episode “Imposters” in which Picard, still angry at her three decades later, was also concerned that Ro had been replaced by a shapeshifting Changeling. In the end, the two reconciled, though there was some massive tragedy in that episode. (No spoilers in case you haven’t seen it!)
All of this is to say that because Ro is a bit younger in the new game, “Shadow Frontier” seems like it takes place sometime in a classic Next Generation/Deep Space Nine era. Meaning, this game not only features the return of a beloved Star Trek character, but also a trip back to the 1990s era of the Final Frontier. Famously, an early version of “Deep Space Nine” would have included Ro as a regular character, but when Forbes declined, the character of Major Kira, as played by Nana Visitor, was created.
Post-Star Trek, Forbes has been no stranger to science fiction. For fans of “Battlestar Galactica,” she played the unrelenting Admiral Cain in the second season of that show in 2006, and the one-off TV movie, “Battlestar Galactica: Razor.” She also had a recurring role in “24” from 2002 to 2003. More recently, Forbes starred in the TV series “New Amsterdam.”
As of this writing, there is not yet an exact release date for “Star Trek: Shadow Frontier,” but the recent announcement seems to suggest it will arrive sometime in 2027.
