In 2017 it was announced that Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft would be embarking on the tall order of taking the world of James Cameron‘s Avatar and putting it in an open-world game. Then several years went by with very little word on the project. Since the movies were also taking quite some time to get started it wasn’t such a big deal that the project remained quiet. However, today during the Ubisoft Forward live stream this project, entitled Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, was finally shown.
Saved for the last big reveal, as Ubisoft likes to do, the showing consisted of a CGI Trailer that should at least emotionally invest you in this return trip to pandora. The trailer began by showing a first-person view of a forest path. This could have been a trailer, but of course, we soon learn we have been following a Na’vi, the inhabitants of pandora. They travel to their tribe and pet a large-looking beast.
This calm is then broken with a switch of scenery to a military base. The soldiers roll out with helicopters, mechs, and more to chase the Na’vi down. The rest of the trailer assures us that the conflict presented in the first film so many years ago is still alive and well.
While no gameplay was actually shown some subtle clues might hint at what we can expect. First and third-person perspectives are showcased around the Na’vi character, possibly suggesting the game will allow both perspectives. Another scene shows the character escaping from mechs by flying away on an Ikran while dodging bullets. Since those creatures were a large part of the film it stands to reason we would get to pilot them here. The one thing we do know is it is open-world so there should be plenty of Pandora to explore.
The game is slated for some point in 2022, which should coincide with the slated release of Avatar 2 in theaters. It will release for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Luna, and Stadia.
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A Nintendo Switch trailer was also released.
According to SteamDB.
An announcement trailer was also released.