Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of those series that feels tailor-made for video games — a rich world with deep lore, a colorful art style, and elemental powers that could instantly translate to gameplay. All the pieces are waiting to be put together, and while we have seen a handful of Avatar video games, they’ve all pretty spectacularly failed to capture the heart of the franchise. It looks like that might change, however, as Paramount and Saber Interactive have announced a partnership to make a brand new Avatar RPG, set thousands of years before the original animated show.
As revealed by IGN, the new game is part of the Avatar Legends universe, an initiative to broaden The Last Airbender through a variety of different media. The new game will be developed by Saber Interactive, the studio that just released Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2, in collaboration with Avatar Studios — a division launched by original show creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko in 2021.
What’s fascinating, however, is that the game will apparently be set thousands of years before the original show, casting the player as an “all-new, never-before-seen Avatar.”
Paramount and Saber say you “can expect to be immersed in a vibrant world, master all four elements, engage in dynamic combat alongside companion, and experience the challenges and decisions that comes with being the keeper of balance in the world.”
What really interesting with this setup is that it isn’t the only game Saber is working on that’s set in the distant past of a popular franchise. Earlier this year, Saber went independent from its parent company, Embracer Group, to the tune of $500 million. But notably, Saber and Embracer had signed on to develop the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake. After gaining independence, Saber said it had received a large investment that would allow it to keep working on KOTOR.
This Avatar project and KOTOR have some obvious similarities — both are set in the distant past and introduce brand new heroes, feature party members, and seemingly will include choice-based stories. We know KOTOR has had a bit of troubled development, but we don’t exactly know how far along it is. This Avatar game could be an instance of Saber learning lessons from developing Star Wars, or vice versa.
The studio has also positioned itself as something of an expert on video game adaptions. Alongside Avatar and Star Wars, Saber previously released WWZ: Aftermath, Evil Dead: The Game, and A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead. There are also new projects in development at Saber, including Jurassic Park: Survival and John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. That’s a lot to juggle at one time, but Saber does have 13 different studios spread across the world, so it’ll be interesting to see which of these projects see the light of day first.
“At Saber, we are all truly fans of the IP we work with,” Josh Austin, Head of IP Development & Licensing at Saber tells IGN, “Our team members are some of the most devoted, passionate creatives out there and it’s an honor to join forces with Avatar Studios and Paramount Games to further expand the Avatar Legends universe in video games. This unique co-fund structure is a result of our ever-expanding collaboration with Paramount, which started over a decade ago with WWZ, and we’re excited for all that’s on the horizon.”
There’s currently no word on what systems this upcoming Avatar game is being developed for, so don’t expect to see it for a few years at least.
