2022 was set to be the biggest year for James Cameron's Avatar franchise to date. December 16 will see the premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water in theaters, and the film was originally going to be preceded by the launch of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora from Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft. While Avatar: The Way of Water is still expected to meet its December 16 theatrical premiere date, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will no longer release in 2022.
Ubisoft has released its first-quarter report for the 2022-23 fiscal year, confirming that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will now launch in the 2023-24 fiscal year instead. Ubisoft didn't provide a detailed explanation for why the decision was made to push back the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora release date beyond that this will allow the development to better deliver a "cutting-edge immersive experience that takes full advantage of next-gen technology."
Along with delaying Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Ubisoft also confirmed the delay of another game that was originally slated for the 2022-23 fiscal year but has yet to be announced. Ubisoft described the game as an "unannounced premium game," but it too has been pushed back to the 2023-24 fiscal year. It's anyone's guess as to what the game in question is, but speculation points to Assassin's Creed Rift, the rumored smaller-scale Assassin's Creed project that was originally believed to be releasing this year. The mystery game could be a different game entirely, completely unrelated to the Assassin's Creed franchise, so fans should keep that in mind before getting too worried, however.
While the delay of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora may disappoint some fans, it's likely that many saw this coming. After all, hardly anything has been shown of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in terms of gameplay, and so it's really no surprise that the game is being pushed back to the 2023-24 fiscal year. Hopefully more information on the game comes to light sooner rather than later so fans at least have something to help tide them over.
It's quite likely, though unconfirmed, that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will be featured at the Ubisoft Forward event on September 10 at 12:00pm PT. The Ubisoft Forward event is expected to serve as Ubisoft's E3-equivalent this year, with the company set to feature its upcoming projects. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is still one of the biggest Ubisoft games on the horizon, so it would make sense for the game to have a major presence at Ubisoft Forward, even with its release date pushed back, but fans will just have to tune in for themselves to find out.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is in development for Amazon Luna, PC, PS5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Ubisoft