In February of this year, Maximum Entertainment revealed that it was working on a fighting game set in theAvatar: The Last Airbenderuniverse. The game, which was initially planned to launch in early access next year, has been officially canceled,dashing the hopes of bothAvatarand fighting game fans.
It’s a bit bizarre that there has yet to be a big-budget, well-received video game adaptation ofAvatar: The Last Airbender. Aside from the fact that it’s one of the most beloved TV shows of all time,ATLAwould be a great fit for a video game, especially since its lore dictates a cyclical, large-scale narrative. In other words, any adaptation of the source material would be given a lot of breathing room to tell its own original story, not hogtied to the plot elements of eitherATLAorThe Legend of Korra. Then there’s the bending-related lore itself, which obviously has a lot of exciting potential for gameplay systems, in a variety of different genres. All of this is to say that it’s a crying shame that no ambitiousATLAgame exists in the world of modern gaming, and that needs to change soon.
Saber Interactive’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Game Needs to Come to Fruition
Saber’s Avatar Game Can’t Follow the Same Fate as Maximum Entertainment’s
A fighting game based on the world ofAvatar: The Last Airbenderis rich with promise. Franchises likeNarutoandDemon Slayerhave demonstrated what’s possiblewhen TV or comic series with broad casts of characters come together in a fighting game, andATLAcould have joined them in this space. Characters from bothAvatarandThe Legend of Korracould have been fully realized in the interactive medium, with intriguing and fleshed-out mechanics designed around their canon abilities and personalities.
But there’s no use lamenting the past; Maximum Entertainment’s fighting game may have been great, but it’s back on the shelf, for the time being. More crucial is that controlling parties, such as Paramount (who owns theATLArights), not get bearish about future projects based on this IP. Indeed, previousATLAgames have been oddly restrained, with projects like 2023’sAvatar: The Last Airbender - Quest for Balancebeing remarkably low-budgetand unambitious. Saber Interactive has referred to itsAvatargame as “the biggest video game in franchise history,” and with that much confidence, it needs to deliver.
The Avatar: The Last Airbender RPG May Be Under More Pressure Than Ever
Saber’sATLAgame has been described as a AAA RPG—a prospect that should no doubt be exciting for fans of the franchise. But AAA RPGs aren’t exactly easy to make, not only because of their inherent narrative and mechanical complexity, but because of the expectations heaved upon them by gaming audiences. For better or worse, gamers are going to wantAvatar: The Last Airbender’s first big, modern video gameto be firing on all cylinders, with industry-leading gameplay, writing, production value, and so on.
These expectations and standards existed before news of theATLAfighting game being canceled, but they may be exacerbated now. At least withanotherAvatargame on the market, even if it’s in a completely different and more niche genre, Saber’s title wouldn’t have to be saddled with the weight of solely representing the IP in gaming. Now, it is.
This situation is strangely reminiscent of the leadup toHogwarts Legacy’s launch. For years, audiences had been asking for an ambitious and polished game set within theHarry Potteruniverse—it just seemed like a no-brainer. Thus, there wasa lot riding onHogwarts Legacyto bring the franchise into the rapidly-developing medium of gaming. And if the sales of that game are anything to go off, then it certainly met its goals. Hopefully, the same will be able to be said about thisAvatar: The Last AirbenderRPG.
