Orbitals has been building serious momentum since its debut at The Game Awards 2025, and a new gameplay trailer has only added more fuel to that hype train. According to Nintendo Life, the latest footage features Creative Director Marcos Ramos and Game Director Jakob Lundgren walking through some of the game's co-op challenges hands-on.
Lundgren's pedigree is worth paying attention to here. He previously worked with Hazelight Studios on A Way Out, It Takes Two, and Split Fiction - a trio of games that basically set the modern benchmark for co-op design. That lineage gives Orbitals some serious credibility in the co-op space before you've even touched a controller.
What we know so far
The game first turned heads at The Game Awards 2025 with its distinct anime visual style, then reappeared at the February 2026 Nintendo Direct to build on that initial impression. Each new showing has added more context to what the experience actually plays like, and the latest trailer continues that pattern by grounding the flashy aesthetics in concrete gameplay.
Co-op adventures live or die by their mechanical hooks, and the involvement of someone who helped craft the puzzle-driven, player-synergy systems behind It Takes Two and Split Fiction suggests Orbitals has a strong foundation to build from. Those games succeeded because they constantly introduced fresh mechanics that demanded genuine collaboration - if Orbitals follows a similar philosophy wrapped in anime presentation, it could be a genuinely compelling package.
Nintendo Switch remains in the picture
The Nintendo Direct appearance earlier this year confirmed the game has a presence on Nintendo's platform, which makes sense given the anime aesthetic tends to find a warm reception in that ecosystem. Whether Orbitals launches simultaneously across platforms or prioritizes one remains to be seen.
With the hype cycle clearly ramping up through steady, well-paced reveals, an official release window announcement feels like it shouldn't be too far off. For now, co-op fans and anime enthusiasts have good reason to keep this one on their radar.
