Since its announcement back in 2017,Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorahadn’t made any major headlines until being shown duringUbisoft’s E3 2021 press conference. At the event, the studio showed viewers a quick look at the game’s world through a prerendered trailer. The game has clearly been in the works for a while and is aiming for a 2022 release date, but it isn’t the only game set in theAvataruniverse.James Cameron’s Avatar: The Gamereleased alongside the film in 2009 and set out to tell a story about Pandora’s natives, the Na’vi.
AlthoughAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s release date isn’t set-in-stone just yet, fans are wondering ifFrontiers of Pandorais a sequel toAvatar: The Gameor if it’s related in any meaningful way beyond its title. Despite the lack of substantial details known aboutFrontiers of Pandora, there are a few hints about the nature of its release that can help expectant fans understand how the game might tie in with the rest of the franchise.
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Ubisoft and Avatar Video Games
Ubisoft and Avatar have a relationship that precedes theAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoraannouncement.Avatar: The Gamewas developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft, so whenFrontiers of Pandorawas announced, it didn’t come entirely as a surprise that the studio would be publishing the IP once more. This time being developed by Massive Entertainment, the studio behindThe Division, the game is a first-person action-adventure game that seems like it could be in line withAvatar: The Game’s general feel.
Avatar: The Gamehad some pretty standard third-person action gameplay that’s comparable to some of Ubisoft’s other IPs likeAssassin’s CreedorWatch Dogs. The shift from third-person to first means that the gameplay loop ofAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoramight be in line with Ubisoft’s first-person titles likeFar CryorRainbow Six Siege. That’s not to say thatFrontiers of Pandorawill be a shooter, although shooting might be an element of the gameplay. Alongside shooting mechanics, some other elements like stealth, exploration, and quest-based objectives might be included in the game. Those sorts ofgameplay elements were present inAvatar: The Game,so the two could end up feeling like entries in the same series even if they aren’t officially linked.
The James Cameron’s Avatar Universe
From what it seems like so far, there’s nothing connectingAvatar: Frontiers of PandoratoAvatar: The Gameother than their publisher and franchise.Avatar: The Gamewas a prequel to the 2009 film, set two years before the events of its plot. While essentially nothing is known about the story ofAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoraother than it will involve pieces of the human-Na’vi conflict, the game will most likely not share a lot of story elements withAvatar: The Game. It’s a possibility thatFrontiers of Pandoramight tie into the film release ofAvatar 2,however,as it’s set to debut in December 2022. As such, the game’s relation to the film might be similar toAvatar: The Game’s relationship to the original 2009 film.
It’s clear that there’s more to come fromtheAvataruniverse, but just how connected everything will be is still up in the air. It’s possible that Disney may make a statement saying that all non-film adaptations of the franchise are non-canonical in a similar fashion to what happened with the extendedStar Warsuniverse, but this is purely speculation. After all, the opposite scenario can play out, with Disney saying that everything released so far is in the same canon. That would technically makeFrontiers of Pandorarelated toAvatar: The Game, but if there’s any connecting tissue between the two other than that, it has yet to be seen.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorais expected to release in 2022 on PC, PS5, Stadia, Xbox Series X/S, and Luna.
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