Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Game Director Defends First-Person Perspective

Ubisoft reveals why Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora won't offer a third-person option.

By Marc Deschamps

When Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora releases next month, the game will offer players a chance to explore the world of Pandora. While many players have expressed a desire to play the game in third-person, it will exclusively take place from a first-person perspective. Speaking with IGN, creative director Magnus Jansen revealed how the decision will help to immerse players in the world of Pandora. As Jansen notes, the first-person decision was made in conjunction with Lightstorm Entertainment, the film studio that produced the two Avatar films. 

"This was something that we were completely in agreement with Lightstorm," Jansen told IGN. "To be as close to Pandora as possible, to be as immersed into it as you can possibly be, which is (achieved through) the first-person perspective… to me, it was a no-brainer for us to go there." 

In that same interview, game director Ditte Deenfeldt echoed the intention of immersion, and how the game is trying to give players a unique way of exploring Pandora.

"Because we want you to feel immersed, we want you to feel immersed and feel like you're really on Pandora," Deenfeldt told IGN. "So it was never really a big discussion for us."

Avatar Media and the World of Pandora

Since the original Avatar released back in 2009, the goal of James Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment has been finding new ways to immerse audiences in the world of Pandora. It makes sense then that Frontiers of Pandora would offer a first-person perspective, as a way to really sell players on the idea that they are the ones exploring this world. Similarly, the Avatar Flight of Passage ride in Disney's Animal Kingdom also offers a first-person perspective, simulating the experience of riding on a Banshee as an avatar. It's unclear whether Flight of Passage might have had some influence on the development of Frontiers of Pandora, but it's easy to see the various ways that Lightstorm Entertainment is trying to build on the world established in the movies. 

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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Release Date

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is set to release December 7th on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Developed by Massive Entertainment, the game will feature a completely original story set in the world of Avatar. It remains to be seen whether the developers will be able to deliver an experience that lives up to the source material, but with the game set to release in less than a month, fans won't have to wait much longer to find out! Video games released so close to the end of the year have sometimes struggled, even those that have received critical praise like last year's Marvel's Midnight Suns. Hopefully Frontiers of Pandora will be able to avoid those kinds of struggles! 

Are you looking forward to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora? Do you plan on checking out the game next month? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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