Although not quite at the level of Spock's dramatic demise in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Perpetual Entertainment's closing in January fell heavy on the hearts of those looking forward to beaming aboard Star Trek Online. However, as one of Perpetual's last moves, the studio reportedly fired off its own Genesis capsule containing the coveted Star Trek massively multiplayer online game license, a capsule that reportedly fell on fertile soil in the backyard of City of Heroes creator Cryptic Studios.

Today, that rumor can be confirmed. Cryptic Studios has announced that it has indeed acquired the rights to develop and publish Star Trek Online. True to TrekMovie.com's initial report, Cryptic accompanied the game's announcement with a handful of screenshots. The developer also said that it will unveil the first gameplay footage at this year's Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas. The event will be webcast live, and can be viewed through the game's official Web site on August 10.

Star Trek Online is the second MMOG in Cryptic Studios' stable. After selling off its stake in City of Heroes and City of Villains to NCsoft in November, the game maker announced that it would be developing Champions Online, a spiritual successor of sorts to the canceled Marvel Universe Online. Earlier this month, Take-Two Interactive revealed that it would publish the superhero-themed MMOG under its 2K Games label, slotting the game's release on the PC and Xbox 360 into its spring 2009 quarter.

Unfortunately, aside from the screenshots, Cryptic offered little other information on the game or its development status. A release date or platforms have yet to be revealed.

via GameSpot