When Star Trek: Outposts Unknown was announced during Summer Game Fest, it immediately caught my attention. Not because it was another action game or space shooter, but because it looked like something we don’t get very often from Star Trek. A game focused on exploration, science, discovery, and building something meaningful across the frontier. As a longtime Star Trek fan, that sounded a lot more like Star Trek to me.
I only spent a short time with the demo so far, but I wanted to share some early impressions, especially for Mac users wondering how the game runs on Apple Silicon.
First Things First: It Runs on Mac
The demo is available through Steam and the install comes in at well under 4 GB. That’s refreshingly small compared to the massive downloads we’re all used to these days.
I tested the game on a MacBook Air M4 with 24GB of RAM running macOS 26.3. The game launches natively on Apple Silicon and, at least from my initial time with it, runs surprisingly well.
I played at 1600×900 using a mix of Medium and High graphics settings. Overall, performance felt responsive and perfectly playable. There were a few transitions that felt a little choppy, but nothing that made me want to stop playing or lower settings.
What surprised me most was how good the game looks. The environments are colorful, detailed, and unmistakably Star Trek. For a game that leans heavily into colony building and management mechanics, the visual presentation is much stronger than I expected.
A Familiar Face Welcomes You
One of the first things Star Trek fans will notice is the appearance of Admiral Robert April, a character many viewers will recognize from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
That immediately helped establish the setting and tone for me. This is very much a Strange New Worlds-era Star Trek game, and that’s not a bad thing.
With Season 4 of Strange New Worlds arriving this summer, it feels like a good time to be a Star Trek fan. While we’re waiting for Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew to return, Outposts Unknown gives us another opportunity to spend time in that era of the franchise.
The Biggest Challenge So Far
My biggest obstacle isn’t performance. It’s me. I’m not a heavy PC gamer. Most of my gaming happens on consoles. Give me a DualSense controller, an Xbox controller, or a Switch 2 Pro Controller and I’m immediately comfortable. Drop me into a keyboard-and-mouse game that expects me to navigate with ASDF keys and suddenly I feel like a cadet on their first day at Starfleet Academy.
The controls aren’t bad. They’re just unfamiliar to me. I suspect I’d be far more comfortable playing this on PS5, Xbox Series X, or eventually Switch 2 if the game makes its way there. And yes, before anyone asks, I know. Alien controls in a Star Trek game. The joke practically writes itself.
Could This Work on Switch 2?
That question kept popping into my head while playing. The game’s visual style feels like it could be a great fit for Nintendo’s new hardware, especially since colony builders and management games are fantastic portable experiences.
The bigger concern is the user interface. Even on my MacBook Air, I found myself wondering how some of the menus and information panels would translate to an 8-inch handheld display. It’s entirely possible the developers already have scalable interface options planned, but that’s something I’ll be paying close attention to if a Switch 2 version is announced.
Because honestly, this feels like exactly the kind of game I’d love to take on my daily commute.
Early Verdict
I’m not ready to score the game yet. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Outposts Unknown has to offer, and I plan to spend much more time with it this weekend. What I can say is that my first impression is positive.
The game looks great on Apple Silicon. The performance on my MacBook Air M4 has been solid. The Strange New Worlds connection immediately grabbed my attention. And perhaps most importantly, it feels like the developers understand that Star Trek is about more than combat. It’s about exploration. It’s about discovery. It’s about venturing into the unknown. That’s exactly what I’m hoping to do when I sit down with the demo again this weekend.
It is also worth mentioning that Star Trek fans suddenly have more games to look forward to than we’ve had in years. Alongside Outposts Unknown, a second game was announced during Summer Game Fest: Star Trek: Shadow Frontier, a psychological horror adventure starring Ro Laren and featuring the return of Michelle Forbes in the role. As someone who loves horror games around Halloween, like Alien Isolation and Dead Space that one is definitely on my radar and I’ll be covering it closer to release. The idea of a Star Trek horror game sounds strange at first, but after seeing the trailer, I’m intrigued.
Earlier this year we also saw the release of Star Trek: Infection, a VR survival horror game that launched for VR headsets in March. Unfortunately, I don’t own a VR headset right now, so it’s sitting firmly in the “maybe someday” category for me. Still, it’s nice to see Star Trek experimenting with different genres instead of playing it safe. Whether it’s colony building, psychological horror, or virtual reality, the franchise finally seems willing to take some chances in gaming again.
For longtime fans, that’s probably the most exciting thing about all of this. Between Strange New Worlds returning this summer, Outposts Unknown arriving on PC and consoles in the future, Shadow Frontier on the horizon, and Star Trek: Infection already available for VR players, it feels like Star Trek gaming is finally waking up after a very long nap. And honestly, as someone who has been waiting years for Star Trek games that feel fresh and different, that’s a welcome sight.
Have you tried Star Trek: Outposts Unknown yet? Let us know what platform you’re playing on and what your first impressions are.
