The ambitious Avatar: The Last Airbender role-playing game announced in 2024 will not move forward, Paramount Games Studio confirmed this week. The project, which had been in development at Saber Interactive with an expected 2027 or 2028 launch, was shelved when the studio restructured following Paramount's merger with Skydance.
Working under the title Ice Wars, the game was designed to put players in control of a brand-new Avatar character thousands of years before the events of the existing series. Saber Interactive, the studio behind Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, was tapped to lead development, with Paramount pledging co-funding for what it called "the biggest video game in franchise history."
The game would have featured combat across all four elements, team-based gameplay with companion characters, and a narrative crafted in collaboration with Avatar Studios. When first announced, the project generated significant buzz within the gaming community as a potential flagship title for the franchise.
But momentum stalled almost immediately after the initial reveal. No updates surfaced over the following months, and the project ultimately fell into limbo when Paramount Games Studio was established last fall as a unified division overseeing all gaming efforts from Paramount and Skydance.
Shawn Kittelsen, senior vice president of creative and production at Paramount Games Studio, told IGN that the Avatar RPG was not in active production when the new structure took shape. "There were a lot of aspirations previously at Paramount, but there wasn't necessarily the conviction or the support," Kittelsen explained. He noted that games had previously operated as a sub-department within consumer products rather than as a standalone business unit with dedicated resources.
The restructuring has created a markedly different approach. Kittelsen emphasized that Paramount Games is now focused on ensuring any project it announces can actually reach completion. "We're taking a different approach to games and wanting to see things through and make sure that anything that we announce we're prepared to launch," he said.
The Avatar RPG is not the only project affected by the reorganization. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin game, developed by Black Forest Games, also halted production around the time of the merger. However, Paramount chose to salvage that project by transitioning it to PlatinumGames, which will now handle development with Paramount maintaining full publishing control and accountability for launch.
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, a separate project in the franchise, will continue and is being published by Paramount Games after a recent delay.
The door may not be entirely closed on future Avatar gaming experiences. Kittelsen left room for possibility, suggesting that a AAA Avatar title could emerge in a different form down the line. For now, however, the Ice Wars project is effectively dead.
Author Emily Chen: "Paramount's decision to ax this game rather than rescue it says volumes about where the studio's confidence actually lies in the Avatar IP for gaming right now."
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