The alien world of James Cameron’s “Avatar” will be turned into a massively multiplayer mobile strategy game, under a pact between Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Fox with game developer Kabam.
The new game, set to debut ahead of “Avatar 2” (currently slated for 2018 release) will combine the characters and environments from the film franchise with new gameplay features. Kabam said it expects the “Avatar” mobile game to be its biggest release ever.
Once launched, the “Avatar” game will continue to be updated and evolve along with the launch of each of the four planned sequels scheduled to be released around Christmas in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023.
“Kabam has an excellent reputation for building compelling mobile games that explore detailed worlds, which makes them an ideal partner for our franchise,” said Jon Landau, “Avatar” producer and COO of Lightstorm Entertainment. “The world of Pandora is massive, far beyond what we are able to include in our feature films, and we think fans will be excited by the level of additional depth and detail that they will be able to experience in this game.”
San Francisco-based Kabam has adapted several major Hollywood properties into mobile games, including for “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (as part of “Marvel Contest of Champions”) as well as “Fast & Furious,” “The Hunger Games,” “The Hobbit” and “The Godfather” in partnership with studios including Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros. and Universal.
“We develop games that people return to and play for years, and the ‘Avatar’ game will deliver new and unexpected thrills to gamers for the foreseeable future,” Kabam COO Kent Wakeford said. “James Cameron and the ‘Avatar’ franchise are synonymous with groundbreaking technology and pushing the envelope. We plan to live up to those standards by creating the best AAA massively multiplayer mobile game possible for the franchise.”
Twentieth Century Fox released the original “Avatar” film in 2009, which holds the record as the highest-grossing film of all time with a $2.8 billion worldwide box-office take. The film has sold more than 50 million DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and digital downloads worldwide.
Kabam, which has more than 700 employees around the world, is backed by investors including Alibaba Group, Canaan Partners, Google, MGM, Intel, Pinnacle Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Warner Bros.
