This Controversial New Sci-Fi Gaming Crossover Is Also a Historic First

In 1999, one comedy film not only became one of the greatest sci-fi movies of a generation, but it also predicted the way in which we all think and talk about fandoms of all kinds in the 21st century. That film was Galaxy Quest, an obvious parody of Star Trek in which actors from a cult sci-fi TV show find themselves fighting for their lives in a real interstellar adventure.

And despite some excellent comics, and constant talk of a TV series reboot, fans of Galaxy Quest can’t get their hands on that much Galaxy Quest stuff. On top of that, there’s never been a Galaxy Quest game of any kind. Until now. But, this first appearance of Galaxy Quest in video game form comes with a catch: it’s attached to a “freemium” Star Trek mobile game.

Galaxy Quest hits Star Trek: Fleet Command

For a limited time, developer Scopley has launched an event in which characters and ships from Galaxy Quest can be earned as playable crew and starships in Fleet Command. Yes, this includes Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), Laliari (Missi Pyle), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver), and Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman). And most importantly, means players can, for the first time ever, command a version of the iconic Galaxy Quest ship, the NSEA Protector.

Designed by Industrial Light & Magic, most sci-fi fans agree that the NSEA Protector is one of the greatest Star Trek-ish ships to ever grace the screen, even though Galaxy Quest is not *technically* a Star Trek movie.

What is Star Trek: Fleet Command?

Star Trek: Fleet Command was launched in 2018, a mobile game that has less to do with exploring strange new worlds and more to do with blowing up enemy starships and buying bigger and better versions of your own. And yes, it’s pretty hard to level up your ships and crew without a few in-app purchases, which makes the gaming experience somewhat contrary to the (mostly) currency-free future Star Trek imagines.

But for diehard Trekkies, you can’t write Fleet Command off completely. A ton of legacy actors from the franchise have done cool crossovers for the game, including LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Rainn Wilson, Sonequa Martin-Green, Alice Eve, and even Michelle Yeoh. And while the ads produced to announce those crossovers are arguably somewhat cooler than the actual game, there’s an old-school arcade space-battle aspect to Fleet Command once you get to the point where your ship doesn’t totally suck. (Which, again is hard.)

It also looks pretty amazing for a mobile game, and adding your favorite ships and crew is somewhat exciting, considering the game is now at a point where it includes literally all eras of Star Trek crossing over at once. Launched exclusively in the Kelvin timeline the game has, in recent years, expanded to include all various eras, which means it is the only Star Trek experience in which Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk can be on the USS Titan-A from Picard, alongside William Shatner’s Kirk from The Wrath of Khan. What Fleet Command lacks in gameplay mechanics, it admittedly does make up for in cool factor.

The crossover of Galaxy Quest ships and crew to Fleet Command is arguably the biggest stunt the game has pulled yet. You can’t really imagine characters from Spaceballs appearing in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, but that’s exactly what this is like. Curiously, this is the second major crossover between Star Trek and another sci-fi franchise within a mobile game in just the past few months. During San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the Trek mobile game Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive began featuring a crossover between Doctor Who: Lost in Time, while fans of both franchises are hopeful for a TV crossover, too.

Right now, there’s no reason to think that characters from Galaxy Quest will actually appear in a Star Trek upcoming movie. But then again, a few years ago, nobody thought you’d be able to fly the NSEA Protector in the Final Frontier either.

You can learn more about Fleet Command here.