Star Trek is one of the many franchises that don’t incorporate all of their material into established canon but should they?
Star Trek fans are by now very accustomed to how things work. Just about anything that’s a television or movie product created by an official Star Trek studio is dubbed “canon”. The only entity this doesn’t apply to is the Animated Series from the 1970s, though, elements depicted in the series have been canonized independently of the series.
Yet, Trek is far more than just films and series, it’s comics, books, video games, tabletop games and so much more. That said, only the films and series are deemed canon. So even the best comic book or video game you own that bares the Trek logo won’t be considered canon.
Why is that? Well, it largely has to do with the fact that very few of the decision-makers who oversee Star Trek have any involvement in these ancillary projects. Since that’s the case, most within the franchise have no clue if their storylines would even fit with the established canon. It also helps these other projects have more ability to flex their creativity and not be bogged down by studio guidelines.
Should non-franchise projects be given the canon treatment?
Despite what you may want, the fact is there is such a large amount of Star Trek content being made through the studios, official partners, and unofficial sources that to find a way to canonize all of them would be so difficult.
You’re talking about hundreds of hours more in production and planning, all for what, a video game that may last 20 hours and get forgotten about in time?
The current model may not be the most comforting model for diehard fans who want and need more content to consume with the Star Trek logo but it’s far easier for all involved if things stay the status quo.