Star Trek News · Edition of Tuesday 20 October 2026 · covering 13–20 October, with updates to 21 October
Star Trek’s 60th birthday celebrations moved off the screen this week. Magic: The Gathering revealed what is inside its big Star Trek crossover, a new Strange New Worlds-era building game arrived on PC, IDW launched a new comic led by Captain Raffi Musiker as The Last Starship reached its final issue, and the dates are in for next year’s biggest Trek conventions, including a 40th birthday party for The Next Generation.
The Star Trek News That Matters
Magic: The Gathering reveals what is inside its Star Trek set, with cards signed by the stars
- New development: Wizards of the Coast published the full collecting guide and a debut video for Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek on Tuesday 20 October
- Release dates: Prerelease events run from 6 to 12 November, the set arrives on MTG Arena on Tuesday 10 November, and the global tabletop release is Friday 13 November
- What is inside: Seven signed headliner cards, each hand-signed by the actor pictured and limited to fewer than 250 copies, hidden in Collector Boosters; ten LCARS-framed shock lands; 30 “stardates” reprints; and four Commander decks: Federation Fleet, Landing Party, Klingon Fury and We Are the Borg
- UK availability: Released worldwide, including in UK game shops, on Friday 13 November and on MTG Arena from 10 November. Pre-orders are open now. UK prices have not been announced
Wizards says the set draws on “nearly every incarnation of Star Trek, from The Original Series to the latest voyages into space”. The signed cards feature characters including Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Data, Seven of Nine and Geordi La Forge, while scene cards spread single moments across several cards, from the Borg confrontation in The Next Generation to the mirror universe of the original series. There is even a set of Klingon-frame cards printed entirely in Klingon.
The debut video brings in William Shatner, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan and Ethan Peck. Like the cinema run of the documentary The Sixty-Year Mission, this is one of the biggest pieces of the franchise’s anniversary year, and it puts Star Trek in front of an audience of card players who may never have watched an episode.
Star Trek: Outposts Unknown is out now, putting players in charge of Starfleet colonies
- New development: The base-building game launched on Steam for PC and Mac on Tuesday 20 October, with a musical launch trailer
- The game: Players captain the outpost builder ship U.S.S. Resonant, setting up colonies across new worlds while uncovering a mysterious cosmic threat
- Behind it: Developed by Magic Fuel Games and published by Playstack with the newly formed Paramount Games; it is set in the Strange New Worlds era and features Admiral Robert April
- UK availability: Out now on Steam for PC and Mac in the UK. A console version was promised at the announcement, but there is no date yet
Its makers call it a “linear narrative-driven outpost builder”, which means a story-led campaign rather than an endless sandbox. Players use familiar Trek technology, including transporters, to move resources between outposts, solve logistical puzzles and push scientific research forward, with each completed mission revealing more of the mystery.
It is a gentler kind of Star Trek game, about building rather than battles, and that suits the curious, exploring spirit of the show it is set beside. If you need a refresher on that era before you start, our Strange New Worlds season 4 review is a good place to begin.
Raffi Musiker takes command in IDW’s new Star Trek: Zero Point, as The Last Starship ends
- New development: Star Trek: Zero Point #1 launched on Wednesday 14 October, and the final issue of Star Trek: The Last Starship, #12, arrives this week
- Zero Point: A new ongoing series by Hugo Award winner Charlie Jane Anders and artist Isaac Sánchez González. Raffi, from Star Trek: Picard, captains the U.S.S. Endeavour, with Lower Decks favourite D’Vana Tendi as her first officer
- Coming next: Zero Point #2 is due on 2 December and #3 on 6 January 2027. A second collected volume of The Last Starship follows in April 2027
- UK availability: Available from UK comic shops that stock IDW titles and digitally. UK release dates for the collected editions not yet confirmed
IDW’s official synopsis has Raffi handed a classified mission to stop disasters before they happen, guided by a powerful artificial intelligence. The series runs alongside IDW’s new flagship Star Trek comic, starring Captain Seven of Nine and the crew of the Enterprise-G, and Anders promises it is something “newbies can read with no homework required”.
The Last Starship, written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, brought James T. Kirk into the 31st century and became one of the most talked-about Trek comics of recent years. Together with Gates McFadden’s Star Trek: Crusher, which we covered in last week’s round-up, IDW’s line is now where the stories of the Picard and Lower Decks crews carry on.
The Next Generation’s 40th birthday party set for Orlando, and Star Trek Las Vegas dates confirmed
- New development: Creation Entertainment set out its Star Trek convention plans on Thursday 15 October
- Trek to Orlando: 5 to 7 March 2027 at the Hilton Orlando, celebrating 40 years of The Next Generation, with Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Denise Crosby and John de Lancie among the guests
- Star Trek Las Vegas: 4 to 8 August 2027 at the Rio Hotel & Casino, with William Shatner already confirmed
- UK availability: All three are US events. Creation has not announced any UK dates
Before either of those, the Trek to Philadelphia 60th Celebration takes place on 14 and 15 November, headlined by Anson Mount and Jeri Ryan, with guests from across the franchise. Kate Mulgrew has had to cancel. The Orlando event will also mark ten years of Discovery, and four of the young stars of Starfleet Academy are among the early guests.
The Next Generation premiered in the US in September 1987, so the anniversary falls next autumn. Shatner’s place in Las Vegas is no surprise after a year in which he has been one of the franchise’s busiest ambassadors, arguing that Star Trek’s optimism matters more than ever.
Coming up for Star Trek
- 6–12 November: Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek prerelease events
- 10 November: the set arrives on MTG Arena
- 13 November: Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek global release
- 14–15 November: Trek to Philadelphia 60th Celebration (US)
- 2 December: Star Trek: Zero Point #2
- March 2027: Starfleet Academy season 2, the final season, on Paramount+
- 5–7 March 2027: Trek to Orlando, The Next Generation at 40 (US)
- 4–8 August 2027: Star Trek Las Vegas (US)
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
It is a quiet week for Star Trek on screen, with Starfleet Academy not back until March, and that makes this week’s news worth noticing. The franchise is being kept busy in card shops, on PCs, in comics and in convention halls, and the Magic set in particular is a smart way to reach new fans in the anniversary year. The question for Paramount is what comes after Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy finish. Until it answers, these are the places where Star Trek is still telling new stories. Dates to note: Friday 13 November for the Magic set and March 2027 for Starfleet Academy’s final term.
If you could have one Star Trek captain’s signed card in your collection, whose would it be, and why?