Few shows are as defining as Nickelodeon’sAvatar: The Last Airbender, with Aang’s journey remaining as emotional as it is brilliant nearly twenty years after its inception. Despite strong beginnings, however, theAvatar The Last AirbenderIP has seen an air of divisiveness in its resurgence, a feat none more prevalent than inAvatar The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance, the GameMill Entertainment title released just last year to less-than-stellar reviews. With efforts made by Avatar Studios to reignite the IP in a more positive lens, including a world concert tour and its continued set ofATLAgraphic novels, there remains hope that a video game set in its world will deliver on fan expectations.
Saber Interactive intends to do just that, announcinga triple-AAvatar: The Last AirbenderRPG in development, working with the creative direction of the original show’s creators, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, through its collaboration with Avatar Studios. According toa statement by Saber Interactive, efforts are being made toward the project balancing the new and familiar; following an Avatar set thousands of years in the past, the action-RPG intends to immerse players in a vibrant world and “unexplored era,” moving backward as opposed to forward asThe Legend of Korrashow did in 2012. The premise certainly stands out, and with the project being a mix of Avatar Studios and Saber’s efforts, whose impressive repertoire of games includesWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2and the upcomingA Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, the signs point to a good omen for the IP.
Saber Interactive Could Be Exactly What Avatar: The Last Airbender Needs
The History of ATLA Licensed Games
TheATLAIP has seen its fair share of games, from tabletops to browser games, collaborative and otherwise. Its console history, however, is a bit more outdated than one might expect. THQ saw the development of fourATLAmulti-platform titles between the mid-to-late 2000s, includingATLA: The Video Game,Into the Inferno,The Burning Earth, as well as a 2010 adaptation inspired by Shyamalan’s film.The Legend of Korragame, sharing the title of its source material, was overseen by Platinum Games in 2014, the company recognizable for its work onBayonettaandNieR: Automata, among others. Though theLegend of Korragame was perhaps the closest to a trueATLAvideo game experience, its reception was still mixed, with fans citing a good effort for a licensed game that had the potential to be greater.
Quest For Balance’s Poor Reception
Fast forward to 2023, andAvatar The Last Airbender: Quest for Balancefelt like it came out of nowhere. Announced just months before its release,Quest for Balancewas quickly met with scrutiny, with comparisons being made to its predecessors nearly a decade prior by way of graphics and gameplay. Speculation quickly grew over rushed development concerns, and by the time of its release, it was evident that the title was doing little to iterate on the licensed games of the IP’s past. Comments fromfans clamoring for a trueAvatar-inspired RPGgrew in the wake ofQuest for Balance’s lackluster reception, and with it, the potential for a world showing reverence to the series without directly pulling from the same storyline and characters.
Saber Interactive and Avatar Studios' Collaboration
WithSaber Interactive indicating a fresh slate for theAvatar: The Last Airbendergames, the degree of freedom offered in the IP’s respective world could be exactly what fans have needed after all this time. Saber’s work on other titles, likeEvil Dead: The Game, shows the developer’s familiarity with adapting material from film/television to conform with the interactivity of games, and provided that the company is given the proper development time and care, itsATLAproject could be just what the IP deserves. The enthusiasm over collaborating with Avatar Studios is another great sign, considering DiMartino and Konietzko will likely provide a good bit of creative input, a feat sadly missing from the Netflix show after “creative differences” in its conception.
Though it is likely that fans will be meeting the announcement with tempered expectations, the potential forAvatar: The Last Airbender’s worldto be fully realized in the gaming medium could be a great accompaniment to the IP’s future plans. Avatar Studios is rumored to have multiple films in the works, and a multiplayer fighting game has also been confirmed to be indevelopment by Paramount Consumer Products and Maximum Games, though further details have yet to surface. In regard to the RPG route and just how belovedAvatar: The Last Airbenderis to its fans, the IP’s success warrants care and attention, and Saber Interactive could be the developer to provide it.
