Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Delayed Until 2023/2024

Ubisoft has delayed the release of the sci-fi action-adventure game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora until sometime in 2023 or 2024.

As reported by PC Gamer, Ubisoft announced as part of its Q1 earnings call that the release of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora would be delayed, now expected to release sometime between 2023 and 2024. "We are committed to delivering a cutting-edge immersive experience that takes full advantage of next-gen technology, as this amazing global entertainment brand represents a major multi-year opportunity for Ubisoft," Ubisoft said.

Ubisoft also commented that even though the additional time is "a reflection of the current ongoing constraints on productions across the industry," the company is determined to "design the most efficient working conditions to ensure both flexibility for our teams as well as strong productivity while delivering the best experiences to players."

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot also addressed the game's status during a Q&A for Ubisoft's financial call, stating that the decision to push the release back is because he expects the title to play a considerable role in the future of the company. "What we feel is the Avatar brand can become a videogame brand," said Guillemot during the Q&A. "So because the potential is just enormous, because there are also movies coming and lots of activity on that brand in the next few years, we are treating that brand like a videogame brand. So we are putting all the energy of the team to make sure it is a fantastic game."

Ubisoft's Frontiers of Pandora game will mark another addition to the Avatar franchise, which will be expanding with the release of Avatar: The Way of Water, the long-awaited sequel to James Cameron's 2009 Avatar film. Both Frontiers of Pandora and its movie sequel counterpart have been in development for quite some time. Though officially unveiled in 2021, the video game was initially announced in 2017, sporting the placeholder name The Avatar Project.

The science fiction-based Avatar franchise would come to fruition after the release of Avatar in 2009. The movie follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic marine, as he inhabits the mind of a blue, humanoid creature called a Na'vi through futuristic technology and begins to understand the species' struggle against human colonization. The film would become an instant hit, gathering an astounding $2.8 billion and becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time, a record it still holds today. Though the film came out nearly 13 years ago, its immense popularity has helped culminate into a long-awaited sequel, one whose trailer shows off just how far the Avatar franchise's CGI has come.

Avatar: The Way of Water releases on Dec. 16, 2022.

Source: PC Gamer

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