The sprawling timeline of the Gundam universe is perhaps one of the most impressive achievements in anime. For nearly 50 years, the Universal Century has been growing and changing, all the way through to this year’s Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe. However, a new Gundam timeline is coming, and it is being steered by the writer and director of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Bandai Namco Filmworks announced that they are launching a new Gundam project, which includes a new timeline and universe to follow. Titled RG Project, this new Gundam universe is being developed by Kenji Kamiyama, a writer and director whose works include Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, and Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi. Joining Kamiyama is award-winning Japanese novelist Toh EnJoe, who wrote the screenplay for the current Ghost in the Shell anime adaptation. 

Related: How to watch Gundam in order

The RG Project is a new multimedia timeline within the Gundam franchise, which includes the previously announced Gundam Rogue Orbit video game. Announced today was Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, an anime that takes place roughly 100 years before Gundam Rogue Orbit. The new Gundam anime tells the story of how humanity found itself battling for survival against a force known as the Apocalypse. 

Kamiyama is said to be shaping the future of the Gundam franchise through the RG Project, which is likely to continue beyond these initial projects for stories that are interwoven with each other.

“When I was approached with the idea of creating ‘a Gundam set in an entirely new timeline, one that is neither the Universal Century nor the Common Era,’ I found myself wrestling with all sorts of questions,” explained Kamiyama in a statement. “What would replace the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon? What would become of the Newtype concept? What about Minovsky particles? And where did war fit into all of this? The more I turned over the question of what fundamentally makes Gundam ‘Gundam,’ the further I drifted from the creative excitement that should have been driving the project."

"So I stepped back and reminded myself: I had been given the chance to create my own Gundam from the ground up for a series I’ve loved for years. What could be more exciting than that? Once I found my way back to that excitement, a fresh and unexpected Gundam began to take shape. That Gundam is Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO.”

No release date for Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO has been announced. Gundam Rogue Orbit is set to be released in 2027.

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