Bloober Team announced Star Trek: Shadow Frontier in 2026, and the wait for it is longer than most Trek fans would like. The studio behind the Silent Hill 2 remake is building a psychological survival horror set in the Star Trek universe, with Michelle Forbes returning as Ro Laren, and it doesn’t land until 2027 across PS5, Xbox Series, PC via Steam, and Switch 2. That’s a real gap for anyone who wants dread-laced sci-fi with a Starfleet uniform on it, not a generic space shooter. If you’re hunting for Star Trek Shadow Frontier alternatives to fill that stretch, the good news is the genre it’s borrowing from, isolation horror in a hostile, confined environment, already has several strong entries on PC, and Bloober’s own back catalogue is sitting right there too.
This list covers seven games that lean into the same mood: claustrophobic ships and stations, an unseen or barely-seen threat, and horror that works on your head as much as your reflexes. None of them are Star Trek. A couple of them come close in spirit, and one lets you keep exploring the Trek universe in the meantime, just without the horror.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Steam price | Length | Trek connection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alien: Isolation | Pure stalker-horror dread | Around $40 (frequently discounted) | 15-20 hours | None, but closest tonal cousin |
| Dead Space Remake | Sci-fi horror with combat | Around $70 | 12-15 hours | None |
| SOMA | Philosophical, psychological horror | Around $30 | 8-10 hours | None |
| Prey (2017) | Space station atmosphere and exploration | Around $30 | 15-20 hours | None |
| Star Trek Online | Staying in the Trek universe | Free to play | Ongoing | Direct, canon Star Trek setting |
| The Callisto Protocol | Modern Dead Space-style combat horror | Around $60 (often discounted) | 8-10 hours | None |
| Amnesia: The Bunker | Tense, systemic dread in a confined space | Around $25 | 4-6 hours | None |
| Observer | Bloober Team’s own psychological horror | Around $30 | 5-7 hours | None, but same studio as Shadow Frontier |
Why we need something now
What Bloober is promising with Shadow Frontier is a specific combination: a known Star Trek character in Ro Laren, a studio with a proven hand at psychological dread after the Silent Hill 2 remake, and a survival-horror structure rather than the phaser-and-away-team formula the franchise usually runs on. That’s a fairly narrow lane. Star Trek games have mostly stayed adventure or action-oriented, and horror games rarely bother with the optimism and structure of the Trek universe, so there’s not an obvious existing title that does both at once.
Until 2027, fans have to split the difference. The games below don’t wear a Starfleet badge, but they deliver the atmosphere, the sense of being hunted in a place you can’t easily leave, and in some cases the exact studio pedigree Shadow Frontier is drawing on. One entry keeps the Star Trek setting itself alive, just without the horror layer.
The 7 games that hold you over
Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation puts you alone on a decaying space station with a single Xenomorph that learns your habits and hunts accordingly. It’s the clearest tonal preview of what Shadow Frontier is chasing: a confined setting, minimal combat, and tension that comes from an entity you mostly can’t fight, only hide from.
Where it falls short: The horror is external and predatory rather than psychological. There’s no ambiguity about the threat, and it leans more survival-stealth than mind-bending.
Pricing:
- Around $40 on Steam, frequently on sale for under $10
Why it fills the gap: It’s the best available substitute for the “one relentless threat, one ship, no easy escape” structure Shadow Frontier appears to be building toward.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The strongest stand-in for Shadow Frontier’s dread while the Trek version isn’t out yet.
Dead Space Remake
The Dead Space Remake rebuilds the original sci-fi horror classic with modern visuals and sound design, sending an engineer through a derelict mining ship overrun by reanimated corpses. It leans harder into combat than pure stealth-horror, but the atmosphere on the USG Ishimura is still some of the best in the genre.
Where it falls short: It’s more action-horror than psychological horror, with more direct combat than Shadow Frontier is expected to have.
Pricing:
- Around $70 on Steam, regularly discounted
Why it fills the gap: Confined sci-fi setting, a crew that’s already gone wrong, and a mounting sense of dread as you piece together what happened, all themes Shadow Frontier’s marketing has already leaned on.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: A polished, well-paced pick if combat-adjacent horror still counts for what you’re after.
SOMA
SOMA is a slower, more philosophical horror game about identity and consciousness aboard an underwater research station after everything has gone catastrophically wrong. Its horror comes from ideas as much as monsters, closer to what “psychological” horror actually means in practice.
Where it falls short: It’s set underwater rather than in space, and the pacing is deliberate, which won’t suit players who want constant tension.
Pricing:
- Around $30 on Steam
Why it fills the gap: Of everything on this list, SOMA is the closest match for the “psychological” half of Shadow Frontier’s pitch, questioning what you’re seeing and who you can trust rather than just running from something.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The pick for players who want their horror to sit with them after the credits roll, not just startle them.
Prey (2017)
Prey drops you on Talos I, a space station overrun by shapeshifting aliens, and lets you explore it largely at your own pace. The sense of a once-thriving crewed environment now gone wrong is close to what a Starfleet vessel in crisis might feel like.
Where it falls short: It plays more like an immersive sim with player choice and crafting than a tightly scripted horror experience, so the scares are more occasional than constant.
Pricing:
- Around $30 on Steam
Why it fills the gap: The station itself, its logs, its abandoned crew quarters, its slowly unraveling story, mirrors the kind of environmental storytelling a Star Trek horror game would likely lean on.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Worth it for the atmosphere and exploration even if the horror is more sporadic than sustained.
Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online is the one entry here that actually keeps you inside the canon Star Trek universe, letting you command your own ship, explore known systems, and take on missions across the Federation, Klingon, and Romulan storylines. It’s not horror, but it’s the real setting Shadow Frontier borrows from.
Where it falls short: There’s no horror element at all. It’s an MMO with combat, exploration, and story missions, closer in tone to the franchise’s usual optimism than to Bloober’s take.
Pricing:
- Free to play, with optional purchases
Why it fills the gap: If what you actually miss is being in the Star Trek universe itself, not the horror, this is the direct substitute while waiting for Shadow Frontier’s setting to arrive.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The pick for staying in Starfleet’s world day to day, horror aside.
The Callisto Protocol
The Callisto Protocol comes from some of the original Dead Space team and sends the player through a prison on a Jupiter moon as an outbreak turns inmates into monstrous creatures. It’s heavier on melee combat and set-piece horror than slow-burn dread.
Where it falls short: Reviews at launch flagged uneven pacing and combat that leaned repetitive, and it’s closer to spectacle horror than the quieter, psychological tone Shadow Frontier is aiming for.
Pricing:
- Around $60 on Steam, often discounted well below that
Why it fills the gap: It’s the most recent big-budget entry in this specific sci-fi horror lineage, with the production values to match a AAA 2027 release.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: A good pick if you want current-generation horror visuals and don’t mind more combat than atmosphere.
Amnesia: The Bunker
Amnesia: The Bunker traps you in a World War I bunker with a creature that reacts to sound and light, forcing careful, resourceful play rather than confrontation. The confined setting and systemic threat are a strong echo of what a horror game aboard a single ship might demand.
Where it falls short: It’s a ground-based, historical setting rather than science fiction, so the theming is the furthest from Star Trek on this list.
Pricing:
- Around $25 on Steam
Why it fills the gap: The tension design, an ever-present threat you manage rather than fight, resource scarcity, a space you must learn by heart, is close to what survival horror on a single vessel would ask of the player.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Short, focused, and genuinely tense if setting matters less to you than mechanics.
Observer
Observer is Bloober Team’s own earlier psychological horror game, a cyberpunk detective story where you hack into the memories of the dead inside a decaying apartment block. Since it’s made by the same studio behind both the Silent Hill 2 remake and Shadow Frontier, it’s the clearest preview of how Bloober actually builds dread.
Where it falls short: The cyberpunk setting and detective structure are a long way from Star Trek, and the horror is more surreal and hallucinatory than survival-focused.
Pricing:
- Around $30 on Steam
Why it fills the gap: This is the studio’s own voice and pacing, unfiltered by a Star Trek license, so it’s the best way to know what Bloober’s craft actually feels like before Shadow Frontier arrives.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The pick for anyone who wants to experience Bloober’s style directly rather than guess at it from trailers.
How to pick the right one
If dread and a single unstoppable threat are what you’re after, start with Alien: Isolation, it’s the closest match to Shadow Frontier’s premise of a small crew facing something they can’t simply fight. If you want the studio’s own fingerprints, Observer shows exactly how Bloober paces tension and unease, since it’s built by the same team.
For players who care more about the ideas behind the horror than the scares themselves, SOMA rewards patience with a story that stays with you. If you’d rather stay inside the actual Star Trek universe and skip the horror altogether, Star Trek Online is the only entry here with real canon ties, and it costs nothing to try.
Players who want more combat alongside their horror should look at Dead Space Remake or The Callisto Protocol, both deliver bigger set pieces and a faster pace. And if a short, tense, mechanically driven experience is enough, Amnesia: The Bunker and Prey (2017) both offer confined, hostile spaces without demanding a long time commitment.
FAQ
When does Star Trek Shadow Frontier release?
Bloober Team has set Star Trek: Shadow Frontier for a 2027 release on PS5, Xbox Series, PC (via Steam), and Switch 2. An exact date has not been confirmed.
Is Alien Isolation on Steam?
Yes. Alien: Isolation is available on Steam and regularly appears in sales, making it an affordable way to experience the closest existing game to Shadow Frontier’s premise.
What is Bloober Team best known for?
Bloober Team is best known for the Silent Hill 2 remake and for a string of original psychological horror titles including Observer, Layers of Fear, and The Medium, all built around atmosphere and unease rather than action.
Is Star Trek Online still active in 2026?
Yes. Star Trek Online continues to receive content updates and remains free to play, making it a straightforward way to stay in the Star Trek universe while waiting for Shadow Frontier.
Is Prey 2017 related to the Predator movies?
No. Despite the similar-sounding name, Prey (2017) is a standalone science fiction game about a space station overrun by shapeshifting aliens, unrelated to the Predator franchise or its own 2022 film also titled Prey.
