If you’ve ever wanted a game that actually feels like playing through an old-school anime, Orbitals is shaping up to be one to watch.
The upcoming Switch 2 exclusive, due in Summer 2026, is a co-op adventure built entirely around two players. You play as Maki and Omura, two teens thrown into an interstellar crisis after surviving a deadly storm. From there, the pair head across space to stop another massive cosmic disaster before it happens.
That setup already sounds solid, but what really makes Orbitals stand out is how hard it commits to its anime identity. This is not just a game with cel-shading slapped on top. The team is blending hand-painted backgrounds, 3D character models, layered animation cels, and even a soft VHS-style grain to make the whole thing look like it came off a worn-out tape from the 80s or 90s.
And honestly, that matters. Plenty of games borrow anime styling, but very few manage to capture the actual feeling of watching classic Japanese animation. Orbitals seems to be aiming for that exact vibe, right down to the slightly juddery cartoon motion and retro-futuristic cutscenes.
The project comes from Shapefarm, an international studio collective based in Tokyo with developers from New Zealand, Argentina and Sweden. It also has some serious crossover talent behind it. Jakob Lundgren, the game’s director, previously spent a decade at Hazelight, the studio known for co-op hits like It Takes Two. So yes, the comparisons make sense straight away.
But Orbitals does not sound like a straight copy of the Hazelight formula. Instead of leaning heavily on platforming, it puts more focus on tools and teamwork. Each player uses a different gadget, including a beam cannon for fixing electrical systems and a grappling hook cannon for pulling objects around the environment. Better yet, players can swap tools whenever they want, which should make co-op less rigid and more playful.
That flexibility carries over to the game’s structure too. Between missions, players return to an explorable spaceship hub that gradually fills up with unlockable mini-games, jokes, little NPC interactions, and anime references. It sounds like one of those games designed to create the kind of couch co-op moments where you spend half the time progressing and half the time messing with your teammate.
There is also strong anime pedigree on the visual side. Shapefarm worked closely with Studio Massket, a Japanese animation house with credits including Attack on Titan and One Piece. For Orbitals, the collaboration reportedly went far beyond normal outsourcing and became closer to co-development.
One of the biggest names involved is Tôru Yoshida, known for his hand-drawn work on the original Gundam. He helped shape the game’s cutscenes, which is a very big deal if you’re into classic mecha and vintage anime craft.
For Malaysia and the wider SEA audience, Orbitals feels especially relevant. The region already has massive overlap between Nintendo fans, anime fans, and local co-op players who still appreciate sofa gaming with siblings, partners or friends. If Switch 2 gets strong traction here, this could be one of those titles people bring out during house hangouts, balik kampung downtime, or casual weekend lepak sessions.
It also hits a sweet spot for SEA anime culture. Retro anime aesthetics, space adventure, expressive character banter, and easy-to-read co-op gameplay is a pretty strong combo for a region that grew up on Japanese animation and still shows up hard for anime conventions, collectible culture, and multiplayer games.
Orbitals is still pre-release, so the big question is whether it can keep that energy going across its reported eight-hour runtime. But from what’s been shown so far, this looks like more than just another stylish indie. It could end up being one of the most distinctive co-op games on Switch 2.
Source: Eurogamer