I don’t think anyone was expecting this. We’ve had a ton of fighting game announcements over the weekend thanks to EVO France, mostly DLC for existing games but we also had an entirely new title with a beloved IP stapled onto it: Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game (it’s a working title).

With all the iconic Avatar characters you know and love like Aang, Zuko, Toph, Sokka, Katara, and Azula taking their place on the roster, as well as Korra, this is definitely a nostalgia bomb for those who grew up with the Avatar shows, and is likely part of a greater marketing strategy since the next Avatar series, Avatar: Seven Havens, set to come out in 2027.

The game is in a very early state, even the title isn’t completely finished, but from what little we do see we’ve got some nice backgrounds and fantastic character models, though the way the two interact (and how the characters interact with each other) does look a bit awkward, that’s likely something to be smoothed over in time. We have some great callbacks in the movesets of characters we can see, like Aang’s Avatar state and Zuko’s Blue Spirit double sword showcase.

Fighting games seem to be a popular genre for pre-existing IPs to latch on to to try and expand their reach into different media types. We have Marvel Tokon coming out next year, and while Marvel has a long history of fighting games the comic/animated series of Invincible and the MOBA League of Legends have also dipped their toes into fighting games with Invincible VS and 2XKO respectively.

Now, it looks like Avatar will be the latest game of this trend to hit the streets. It makes sense, Avatar is intrinsically linked to martial arts and the spiritualism that comes with the practice, so it’s a natural fit. There is no current announce date, as said the game is in a very early state, but be sure to keep an eye out for Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game if it crosses some particular wires for you.