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The long-awaited massive multiplayer online role playing game "Star Trek: Online" may be hitting stores in just 25 days. But it's unlikely.

That's the speculation, at least, that's floating around after a mysterious counter showed up on the official site of Cryptic Studios, the game-maker who took over the production of "Star Trek: Online" from Perpetual Entertainment earlier this year.

The countdown has absolutely nothing else around it to indicate what it is, except it is under the "games" header. As of July 2, it simply states 25 days and some change on a background that includes a planet and a star field.

It's possible that it could be an advertisement for Champions Online, which has a button right under the counter and is still under development by Cryptic. However, earlier press releases for that game tout a Spring 2009 launch, not a Summer 2008 launch.

"Star Trek: Online" has been in development hell for a long time. Perpetual first announced the project in September 2004 as an MMORPG, and has since been through a few iterations. In fact, it's never been officially confirmed that Cryptic is the new studio putting together the property, but has been heavily rumored since Perpetual gave up the property.

The countdown would lead to July 27, but it's not clear if that's when Perpetual intends to launch the game, begin a beta, or have some other sort of announcement for "Star Trek: Online." In fact, it could simply be Cryptic's official announcement that they are developing the game, and some detailed plans on what they intend to do.

July 27 is a Monday, and the first Monday after San Diego Comic-Con International, which could also be a good venue to announce such a venture ... but fans likely will have to wait until then.

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