We were disappointed when James Cameron’s Avatar sequels were delayed, with the three upcoming movies now releasing in 2025, 2029, and 2031. But, fortunately, just a year on from Avatar: The Way of Water we have a whole new blockbuster Na’vi adventure in the form of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
The game puts you in the loincloth of a Na’vi warrior, letting you explore Pandora, bond and hunt the wildlife, impale human invaders on giant arrows, and commune with Eywa. The game looks gorgeous and was made in collaboration with the movie team, but is it canon to the movies and does it tie into the overall plot?
Is ‘Frontiers of Pandora’ canon?
Yes. Like all official Avatar releases Frontiers of Pandora is canon to the overall Avatar story. However, the game is set one year before the events of Avatar: The Way of Water and takes place in an entirely new region of Pandora, so doesn’t necessarily directly dovetail with Jake Sully and the Omaticaya.
However, the climactic events of Avatar are mentioned in Frontiers of Pandora, underlining that this is indeed all part of the same story.
Will it link to ‘Avatar 3’ in 2025?
We won’t spoil any part of the game’s plot, but there will indeed be some kind of link to Avatar 3 – tentatively titled Avatar: The Seed Bearer – in the game, though we may not realize what that is until the movie releases in Dec. 2025.
Speaking to IGN, developer Joshua Izzo said:
“I can say that there are going to be some future sequel elements in Frontiers of Pandora that will pay off when the movie comes out, when Avatar 3 comes out in 2025. Careful Avatar fans who have played the game will want to go back and maybe revisit certain things because it will be revealed to them in ’25.”
Exactly what link that will be is unknown, though if Jake Sully is seeking to unite the Na’vi tribes against the RDA it makes sense he’d visit the clans seen in Frontiers of Pandora. In addition, there will be story DLC for this game, so perhaps we’ll get some for this game around the release of Avatar 3 allowing us to leap into battle alongside Jake and Ney’tiri.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on Dec. 7, 2023.