It sounds to me as though the company that was American Pinball is shifting gears. A recently created Facebook page for something called "Orbit Games" contains the same address and contact information as American Pinball:
In addition to the astronaut logo, that page also contains an image for something called "Whirl-O-Ball":
I had no idea what that is, so I Googled it and came up with this image:
The caption describes the game as:
Whirl-O-Ball (far left) - a variation on Skee-Ball with the ball making a vertical loop-the-loop then dropping into scoring pockets
Source: https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2022/01/photographs-from-collection-of-james-r.html
It appears as though the company formerly (and possibly still?) named American Pinball is looking to branch out into other types of arcade games. It has done this sort of thing before, it brought a redemption game called Flying Dutchman to IAAPA 2019. I don't recall ever seeing one on location though. Here's a short video of that game from the industry trade show:
There has been a lot of talk lately about how American Pinball has let the trademark for its name expire. I had chalked that up to the change in management and it possibly slipping through the cracks, but now I'm wondering if AP intends to change its name permanently? Until I can confirm that Cuphead officially isn't happening, consider this a rumor, but one that I strongly believe is true. I will update everyone as soon as I hear anything new.
