Gundam Rogue Orbit has just been announced, and the new game shakes things up more than expected. You see, Gundam has been around for almost 50 years; it's one of the best anime series, and releasing a new entry has always been the same – a new anime launches with a new generation of mobile suits, we snap up the model kits that follow, and eventually a game gives us the chance to step inside the universe and play a new story.
But Rogue Orbit spins it all around, as Bandai Namco looks to develop its new world in a Marvel-like connected universe way. Instead of taking an established Gundam story and adapting it into a game, the publisher is creating a brand-new corner of the franchise where the anime, game, Gunpla model kits and card game are all being developed as connected parts of the same world from the start.
The project, called the RG Project, links the upcoming anime Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO with Gundam Rogue Orbit through a shared timeline. The two won't simply repeat the same story across different formats either. The anime establishes one part of this new era, while the game takes place beyond those events, putting players in the cockpit as a Gundam pilot during humanity's fight for survival.
Created by director Kenji Kamiyama and author Toh Enjoe, the RG Project introduces a completely new timeline built around a mysterious Autonomous Interstellar Object that arrives from another galaxy and gives humanity three revolutionary discoveries: gravity control, faster-than-light communication and cognitive materialisation.
For a while, it looks like humanity has entered a golden age. Civilisation expands throughout the solar system, new colonies appear, and the future seems limitless. Then, naturally, everything falls apart. But less than ten years after its discovery, the object begins producing an aggressive, self-replicating ecosystem that threatens humanity's existence. The conflict becomes known as the Apocalypse, forcing humanity to abandon Earth and begin counting time from A.A. 1 – the first year After Apocalypse.
By A.A. 45, a new generation has grown up on the Moon and in space colonies, never knowing life before the Apocalypse. That's where Gundam Rogue Orbit begins, following a new story that explores what happens when humanity is pushed to the edge of extinction.
The interesting creative decision here is that Bandai Namco is building a world-building framework that different teams can create within. The same world has to work as an anime, a fast-paced action game, a physical Gunpla kit and collectable card artwork. That means every creative choice matters, whether it’s a mobile suit design that has to look good moving in animation, feel exciting to control in a game, and translate into a plastic model that fans actually want to build.
That broader world-building is happening from the very beginning too, as alongside the game announcement, Bandai Namco revealed the HG 1/144 Gundam Helix Gunpla kit, an exclusive Collector's Edition version, and a promotional card for the Gundam Card Game featuring the game's key artwork.
Whether Gundam Rogue Orbit becomes a new favourite remains to be seen when it launches in 2027, but the bigger story is the way Bandai Namco is approaching one of anime's biggest universes. After decades of expanding Gundam through new timelines, this could be the franchise experimenting with a more connected, world-first approach to storytelling.
Gundam Rogue Orbit will release in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
