Avatar Game Developer Reassures Fans After Star Wars Game Announcement

Ubisoft and Lucasfilm Games' joint announcement about a new open-world Star Wars game was big news for the franchise but may have also been a worrying announcement for those eagerly awaiting Ubisoft's new Avatar game. Both of the games referred to as "The Avatar Project" and "The Star Wars Project," respectively, are being developed by the same Ubisoft studio known as Massive Entertainment. David Polfeldt, the managing director within the studio, has since offered some reassuring words about the untitled Avatar game that suggests the studio is prepared to handle both high-profile projects at the same time.

Polfeldt spoke to Ubisoft News in an interview published on the Ubisoft site shortly after the Star Wars game was announced. After discussing the goals behind the development of the new Star Wars game, Polfeldt was asked how the studio planned to handle other Massive Entertainment projects alongside the open-world endeavor.

"We have been preparing the studio for a long time to handle all our projects with equal attention and love," Polfeldt said. "Since all our teams work on the Snowdrop engine, all projects benefit from each other's progress and successes. And obviously, with such an amazing collection of triple-A projects under one roof, we are continuously recruiting, and we're currently looking for experienced developers from all over the world to join us on our future adventures."

While Polfeldt didn't directly reference the Avatar game there and instead referred to the studio's "amazing collection of triple-A projects," he did mention it later in a different response. Ubisoft News asked about the studio's "two major franchises" it was working with – those being Star Wars and Avatar – and got an answer from Polfeldt on why Massive Entertainment was suited for such projects.

"We are always looking to collaborate with fellow creators to bring players memorable experiences and immerse them in incredible worlds, as shown by the amazing collaborations we have with Lightstorm, Lucasfilm, and Disney," Polfeldt said. "Together, we are focused on projects that push the boundaries of open-worlds and player immersion to the limit, and that direction suits the rich universes of Avatar and Star Wars extremely well."

Details about the upcoming Avatar game are scarce despite the project being announced back in February 2017. Mentions of the game during earnings calls have suggested that we shouldn't expect to see it release until some time in 2022.