Nearly Two Decades Later, ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Is Getting A Video Game Worthy Of Its Name By Saber Interactive
Almost twenty years after THQ’s hit Avatar: The Last Airbender game, the beloved franchise is getting a new triple-A game. In a surprising move that will light up many faces, Saber Interactive and Paramount Game Studios are making an action RPG based on the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe that will introduce players to a brand new Avatar, set thousands of years before the shows.
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Created by Michael Dante DiMartin and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated series set in a world where some people can manipulate one of the four elements, water, earth, fire, or air, through a skill known as bending, inspired by Chinese martial arts.
The series follows Aang, the last Airbender and current Avatar, as he journeys to master all four elements and defeat the Fire Lord. The show is a mix of cultures, including Asian, Native American, and more, and earned heavy praise for deep themes, character building, and animation style. It has become one of the most acclaimed animated shows ever aired from 2005 to 2008 on Nickelodeon.
That said, in 2006, THQ Studio Australia released Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Video Game for Game Boy Advance, PC, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PS2, PSP, Wii, and Xbox. The game allows players to take control of one of four main characters, Aang, Haru, Katara, or Sokka, in a single-player campaign.
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The game received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, resulting in a sequel, Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth. Since then, the Avatar franchise has been treated with several forays into the gaming world, but none have measured up to the first game. These include an MMORPG Avatar: Legends of the Arena in 2008 by Nickelodeon, a turn-based role-playing mobile game by Navigation Games, titled Avatar Generations, and GameMill Entertainment’s Avatar: The Last Airbender – Quest for Balance, which came out in September 2023.
Now, Saber Interactive looks to give the Avatar franchise the treatment it desperately needs (and deserves). It will be developed in close collaboration with Avatar Studios, the division launched by the original show creators in 2021 to expand the franchise. Set thousands of years before the events of the series, the game introduces a new Avatar in an era long before Aang’s story.
While its still unknown if the game will have a character creation or a preset character, the player characters will be able to master all four elements – promising an engaging combat and a dynamic story influenced by choices and character morals.
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Doug Rosen, Paramount’s senior vice president of games, is familiar with Saber Interactive and the Avatar franchise and its fans. He said, “Saber Interactive has a proven track record in bringing intellectual property-based games to life,” and added, “We know loyal fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender have been eager for more stories that bring them into the universe of the show, and through gaming, we’re able to expand the world-building and allow fans to experience the new content in a completely immersive way.”
Saber Interactive has been making strides in recent years with several hit games, including World War Z, SnowRunner, and of course the 2024 Game Of The Year contender, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. All of these titles were praised for gameplay but also for Saber’s take on their adaptations.
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Saber Interactive is a fitting choice for an Avatar action RPG. The studio has proven its ability to develop stories and games within the beloved franchises – rather than politicizing them. On that notion, Josh Austin, Saber’s head of intellectual property development, noted that the studio is filled with passionate creatives eager to take on the Avatar universe and expand it through video games.
With Saber Interactive behind the project, Avatar: The Last Airbender fans have something to look forward to.
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