"Avatar" will take form not only in the big screen in the near future but also in gaming, as Ubisoft, the developer and publisher of the "Assassin's Creed" franchise and "The Division," is now gearing up for the video game adaptation of James Cameron's movie.
It is worth noting that Ubisoft will be the publisher, while the developer will be Massive Entertainment. Ubisoft has reportedly been working with Cameron in order for the game to do the movies justice. The 63-year-old director is now working with the game studios in order to bring the fictional planet of Pandora to life and make it as awe-inspiring as the one in the movie.
"What Cameron said is that everyone who walks out of Avatar the movie, and it'll be this thing with the next [movie], has a dream that we can fulfill, and that is to go to Pandora and exist on Pandora, and live an alternative life on Pandora. That's what you can do in the game," according to Massive Entertainment Managing Director David Polfeldt.
This could mean that the game will require a significant investment in graphics and, in turn, might become one of the most hardware intensive upcoming video games. All that, however, remains to be seen once the actual gameplay footage has been released. With the rate of the game's production, gamers might not be able to see any trailer at all for the next couple of years since the next "Avatar" film is not expected to be done until the year 2020.
As such, the release of the video game adaptation may well coincide with the premiere of "Avatar 2" in the same year as well. This does mean that both Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment will have plenty of time to polish the game before release.
Polfeldt also assured fans that it the game will be nothing like "The Division" despite sharing the same graphics engine with it. "Avatar" will most likely be about exploration and the sprawling nature of Pandora, quite a far cry from the post-apocalyptic cityscape of "The Division."
No gameplay details have been revealed yet from the developer, but fans are advised to stay tuned as they might drop some features as the game progresses to its 2020 release.
