Verdict
A well-reviewed Star Trek 4X MMO that is free to start and still updated eight years in, but its store runs up to $99.99 a pack and the written player reviews we read are dominated by complaints about spending pressure, grind and PvP imbalance. Reasonable as a casual Star Trek strategy game; a hard sell if you want to compete without paying.
Star Trek Fleet Command is a free-to-play 4X strategy MMO: you run a starbase, build ships, mine resources, complete missions, join an alliance and fight other players. It launched on iOS and Android on November 29, 2018, developed by Dublin-based DIGIT Game Studios (now a Scopely studio) and published by Scopely under licence from CBS Studios. A Windows and macOS version followed in September 2021.
The question here is the one Bannerdex asks of every game: does it respect your time and your wallet?
How this review was built
This review does not come from hands-on play, and no playtime is claimed. The assessment rests on three things, all checked on October 4, 2026:
- Official material: the game's official site and news posts (Update 90 and Update 94 Battle Pass notes), Scopely's launch and PC announcements, Scopely's help centre, and the Apple App Store listing.
- Critic reception: the Metacritic aggregate, plus individual reviews from Pocket Gamer, COGconnected, Gamezebo and The Irish Times.
- Player reception: the App Store rating and visible reviews, Metacritic user reviews, review digests from JustUseApp and AppSupports, and a 2019 Change.org player petition.
Two gaps to flag. The Google Play page did not load in a readable form, so no Google Play score is quoted. And we found no Steam listing: the official site offers its own Windows and macOS launcher, and Scopely's Steam publisher page does not show the game. There are therefore no Steam reviews to draw on.
What the game gets right
The critic picture is positive, though the sample is small. Metacritic lists a Metascore of 82 for the iOS version from four reviews, all of them positive. Pocket Gamer gave it 4.5 out of 5 and wrote that it "combines its licence, metagame and gameplay in a thoroughly engaging manner". COGconnected scored it 80, praising the Star Trek setting and the amount there is to do.
The licence is the main draw. The official description promises officers such as Kirk, Spock and Nero, ships such as the U.S.S. Enterprise, the Romulan Warbird and the Klingon Bird of Prey, and three factions: Federation, Klingon and Romulan. The game started in the Kelvin timeline of the 2009-era films, and Scopely's own announcements list later content from Discovery, The Next Generation and The Original Series.
Access is the other clear plus. The game is free on the App Store, Google Play and the official launcher, and Scopely's help centre confirms that one Scopely Account carries the same progress between mobile and PC. Multiplayer.it, quoted on Metacritic, said the game works better on PC.
It is also still supported. The App Store listing shows Update 95, which adds a planetary base called Haven for Ops 61+ players, released in the days before this review.
If you want to know which officers and ships are worth building, see our Star Trek Fleet Command tier list.
Monetization: how fair?
This is where critics and players part ways.
The documented facts first. The App Store lists in-app purchases from $4.99 (a Peace Shield Pack) through $19.99 booster packs up to $99.99 packs, such as the Tejat Elite Daily Reward Pack. There is also a Battle Pass. Official notes for Update 90 (April 2026) describe a three-lane pass with a new Mythic Track at $50, sitting between the Elite and Premium unlocks, with pass duration raised to 27 days and Choice Reward Tokens retired. Update 94 (August 2026) then returned the pass to "the 20-milestone structure used prior to Update 90" and brought choice tokens back through new Exchanges. That is a major paid system being restructured twice in four months.
Now the reception. Metacritic's user score is 2.2 out of 10 from 46 ratings, 78% of them negative, and the reviews centre on spending: one calls dominance a matter of "wallet size, not skill". JustUseApp's digest of App Store reviews and AppSupports' collection of negative reviews repeat the same themes: packs priced at $99, progress that slows sharply without paying, and returns that players say shrink as they level. A 2019 Change.org petition signed by 818 players made the same case, calling packs far more expensive than in comparable games.
There is a counterweight. The App Store rating is 4.3 out of 5 from about 68,000 ratings, so many players are satisfied. One App Store reviewer called it the best mobile strategy game they had played and noted that free daily peace shields can keep a base protected, while still conceding that top-tier play requires spending. The Irish Times, reviewing the launch version, pointed out that you cannot simply buy the Enterprise; you still have to earn it.
We could not confirm from reliable sources what a competitive account actually costs. Figures quoted in user reviews vary widely and are unverifiable, so we give none.
Time: the grind question
Everything runs on timers. COGconnected listed the "usual timer countdown" and "a real slow down at level 10" among its negatives, and The Irish Times noted that repairs, upgrades and travel all take time. Level 10 is also where, per COGconnected, you become vulnerable to attacks from other players.
Player reviews are harsher on both points. Metacritic users describe hours of resource mining that feel like a second job, and reviews collected by JustUseApp and AppSupports describe far stronger players destroying weaker ones with no realistic defence. Bugs, crashes and unhelpful support are a separate recurring complaint across all three sources.
Who should install it
Install it if you are a Star Trek fan who wants a long-running strategy game to dip into, enjoys collecting officers and ships, and is content to play in an alliance without chasing the top of the server. Skip it, or set a firm budget first, if you want competitive PvP on a free account or have little patience for timers.
FAQ
Is Star Trek Fleet Command free to play? Yes. It is a free download with in-app purchases listed from $4.99 to $99.99.
Is it on PC? Yes, on Windows and macOS through a launcher from the official site, with progress shared with mobile through a Scopely Account. We found no Steam version.
Is it pay-to-win? That is the most common complaint in the written player reviews we read, particularly for PvP. The two launch-era critic reviews we read in full, from COGconnected and The Irish Times, did not make that charge.
Verdict
5.2 / 10. The score is the midpoint between the critic aggregate (Metascore 82, so 8.2) and the user aggregate (Metacritic user score, 2.2 out of 10). App store star ratings are left out of the score, as on every Bannerdex review, because they are brief star taps that run high across the board; the App Store's 4.3 out of 5 is reported above as context. Both inputs have weaknesses: the critic sample is only four reviews, and the ones we could date are from the 2018 launch window; the Metacritic user sample is 46 people. On time, this is a timer-driven grind by design. On wallet, it is free to start and priced steeply at the top. Enjoyable on its own terms as a casual Star Trek game; costly if you try to keep up.
Strengths
- Critics rated it well: Metascore 82 from four reviews, all positive
- The Star Trek licence is used in depth, with officers, ships and factions drawn from across the series
- Free to download on iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, with one account carrying progress across all of them
- Still actively updated: Update 95 arrived in early October 2026
Weaknesses
- In-app purchases run from $4.99 to $99.99, and player reviews consistently describe high-level play as pay-to-win
- Progress is timer- and grind-based; critics and players both flag the slowdown, players more harshly
- Open PvP from level 10 exposes weaker accounts to much stronger ones, a recurring player complaint alongside bugs and slow support
