Although it's been many years since the original show was on air, Avatar: The Last Airbender and its family of stories is seeing a major resurgence right now. In February 2021, Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino announced the formation of Avatar Studios, a new Paramount affiliate that would focus on expanding the Avatar brand through new series, spin-offs, and other content. In 2021, Avatar fans learned that Square Enix was working on a mobile game based on the series, while Magpie Games was developing an official TTRPG called Avatar Legends. Now, fans know that two more video games are in the works: an RPG and an MMORPG.
News about the new Avatar-related RPG and MMORPG is scarce. Avatar Studios hasn't revealed which game developers it's collaborating with to make these games, but fans do know that Avatar: The Last Airbender's main characters will appear in at least one of the games with a new cast of Asian and Indigenous voice actors. Aside from that, the games are a mystery. It'd not be surprising if these Avatar: The Last Airbender games take place during the time of the original show, but ideally, they won't. The Avatar world has plenty of other compelling time periods that would ultimately make the RPG and MMORPG more unique.
A New Take on Avatar: The Last Airbender
While it's hard to say which game will focus on Avatar: The Last Airbender's main characters, it seems likely that it's the RPG, since players probably won't get to play as the Avatar cast in the MMORPG. If that's the case, the singleplayer RPG is probably tempted to take place during Avatar: The Last Airbender itself, recounting Aang's rise as an Avatar and the final year of the Hundred Years' War with the Fire Nation.
That setting makes sense, but frankly it's not ideal. Plenty of previous Avatar: The Last Airbender video games have retold the show's plot, so the RPG wouldn't be particularly unique if it focused on the show's events. Instead, the RPG's developers should consider looking to The Last Airbender's comic books for inspiration. There's quite a few comics about Team Avatar's adventures after the original show's conclusion, which show how the Avatar world started to change after the war. This complicated time in Avatar history is a great setting for the RPG, since it offers tons of storytelling opportunities about changing societies and Team Avatar's adolescence and young adulthood. It'd also be a great way to bring the comics to life for Avatar fans who haven't read them.
Exploring the Breadth of Avatar
Ideally, the MMORPG won't focus on Avatar: The Last Airbender's events, either. The MMO will be more compelling if players don't just support Team Avatar's actions, instead fighting a wide variety of enemies as opposed to mainly Fire Nation soldiers. Luckily, the Avatar world offers the MMO lots of valuable options. For instance, The Legend of Korra's general time period seems worth exploring in an MMO, thanks to its complicated politics and advanced technology. Alternatively, the Avatar MMO could focus on a time long before Avatar: The Last Airbender, putting the era of Avatar Kyoshi or another earlier Avatar in the spotlight for once.
It's great to hear that Avatar: The Last Airbender is back in action. The show was a cultural heavyweight in the early 2000s and remains beloved to this day. It's even better to hear that Avatar Studios is interested in telling new stories in the Avatar world, rather than relying on retellings of the original Avatar. Hopefully, the IP's future is defined by creative projects that build on top of the established lore by trying out new time periods. The upcoming RPG and MMORPG are two particularly good opportunities to uncover new details of the Avatar world.
An Avatar: The Last Airbender RPG and MMORPG are reportedly in development.
