Avatar Fans Blame Game Delay On New Last Airbender Movie

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game suffered a bizarre set of delays just hours before it was released today, affecting its Xbox and Nintendo Switch versions. The hand-drawn, 2D fighting game garnered positive reviews across the board, with critics praising its mechanics while noting its wider slate of modes is a bit lacking. What appeared to be a slam dunk for Avatar games, which have been dodgy in the past, has now become a controversy, and fans are laying blame on the new film, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.

The new animated sequel, which catches up with the Gaang 13 years after the original series’ finale, will have its full release directly onto Paramount+ on July 25. Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game has launched two days prior, today, July 23. On the evening of July 22, however, the official Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game Twitter account announced that two platforms are suffering various delays.

Avatar Legends‘ Xbox version has been delayed by up to about a month, and is now scheduled to release “by Sept. 3.” Nintendo Switch players now only have access to the standard edition, do not have access to localizations other than English, and cannot use crossplay to fight against players on other platforms—more localizations, crossplay, and the deluxe edition will come to Switch “as soon as possible.” The PlayStation 5 and PC versions are available now in full.

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game and Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender releasing so close together has fans donning their tinfoil hats to explain the game’s last-minute delays. “This game was rushed for the release of the movie,” says one Reddit comment in response to the announcement of delays. In a separate Reddit thread, on another subreddit, the same theory has popped up: “Rushed [tie-in] movie games are back [on] the menu boys.“

With its own original story and no apparent connections to the new movie, Avatar Legends is not exactly a tie-in game. While licensed games are still incredibly common, tie-in games are practically non-existent now, one reason being the time it now takes to develop video games. Still, with the two release dates just days apart, it’s likely there was an attempt at franchise synergy.

Whether Avatar Legends was rushed to coincide with Avatar Aang is impossible to know without explicit confirmation from decision-makers involved in the two projects. It’s worth noting, however, that the movie’s release date had been in flux for quite some time. It was originally set for October 2025, then moved to January 2026, and again to October 2026. When its theatrical release was sadly axed, its premier date was moved up to July 25, 2026.

If anything, the movie’s date being moved up could indicate the opposite, that Avatar Aang was pushed out earlier (out of convenience with no theatrical logistics to consider) to release closer to Avatar Legends. Video game releases can be similarly fickle, but with certification concerns—which have apparently impacted the Xbox version—Avatar Legends has likely been on track for its July 23 launch for a while. It’s certainly a bizarre saga, and while some lackluster aspects of Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game suggest it could have been rushed, the theories remain just that.