Ubisoft and developer Massive Entertainment have announced From the Ashes, a new story expansion for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the 2023 first-person shooter set in James Cameron’s Avatar universe. From the Ashes will be available on December 19 – the same day as Cameron’s upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash film – for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Ubisoft+, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft Connect. It will be priced at $24.99 for players who already own the base game. Alternatively, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes Edition will include the full game and this story expansion and be available on the same platforms for $39.99. Watch the announcement trailer above and check out the first screenshots from the expansion in the gallery below.
“From the Ashes takes place a few weeks after the events of the upcoming film Fire and Ash and roughly six months after Frontiers of Pandora and both story packs,” Omar Bouali, the creative director on the project, told IGN. “From the Ashes is set in a ravaged and occupied version of the Kinglor Forest which includes a new sub-region, The Ravines. It mirrors the themes of the film as it sees the RDA ally with the Ash Clan, fierce Na’vi warriors who thrive on chaos and pain as they intensify their efforts to eliminate threats to their regime. So, whilst the film and expansion are set in different regions of Pandora, there is some shared DNA and we’ve worked closely with Lightstorm to ensure both pieces of Avatar media are complementary.”
Ubisoft described From the Ashes’ plot as such: “From the Ashes sees players embark on the journey of So’lek, a battle-hardened Na’vi warrior from the Trr’ong clan. Ambushed and left for dead by the RDA and their new allies—the ruthless Ash clan—So’lek awakens to a world in flames and his Sarentu family scattered. Driven by grief and vengeance, he sets out to reunite with and protect his loved ones.”
As to what we might see in both this story expansion and the upcoming movie, Bouali said, “We have been able to share some elements across both pieces of media – the most obvious being the Mangkawn, otherwise known as the Ash Clan, but also the Wind Traders who appeared first in our game but will also appear in Fire and Ash. There’s also one very special creature that will appear in both our game and Fire and Ash that we’re very excited for fans to discover. So yes, without revealing too much, it is a process of strong collaboration and we each have been able to share and contribute in an organic, complementary way to ensure fans get an authentic and consistent experience across both the expansion and film.”
IGN called Frontiers of Pandora “good” when it released almost two years ago. You can also check out our Performance Review to see how it performs across PC and consoles. Finally, From the Ashes won’t be the only new content it gets in the month of December; it’s also set to receive an update that adds a third-person camera option and a New Game+ mode.
