Before starting work on 3, considered creating a new RPG, developer Todd Howard reveal to Kotaku.

Bethesda owned the Star Trek game license after it departed Activision, and Howard admits that the project was a huge temptation.

"Nothing was developed internally. There was a pitch to do a big Star Trek RPG. [But] we were doing other things, we made Fallout. We can't do everything," Howard beams.

"We were pondering Classic, and Shatner did voice-acting in one of the games we had. I want the big Star Trek that you go out and explore the universe."

By Luke Guttridge