OK, so this is basically Stellaris - Star Trek Edition, which, as someone with over 600 hours in Stellaris, is at least relevant to me (even though I'm not a huge Star Trek fan). However, there is already an excellent Star Trek mod for Stellaris called ST: New Horizons, which honestly might end up being better than this game.
Star Trek: Infinite should be a streamlined and simpler version of Stellaris, which might be cool for a couple of games for me, but it certainly won't replace Stellaris. It seems pretty smart from a marketing standpoint, though, as it should serve as a good entry point as "baby's first" grand strategy game, coupled with the Star Trek IP. This should be a certain hit.
Anyways, I just thought some folks might be into this.
These are great questions. I'm of half a mind Paramount has been shopping around IPs but they also were also in hot water a decade ago for reneging on rights deals so I would think games studios wouldn't want to work with them. Idk, on the other hand saying piss off to them is leaving a lot of money on the table.
I could also see this being borne out of the success of the Stellaris mod somehow, and won't be surprised if New Horizons gets a cease and desist or whatever after Infinite releases.