Avatar Legends Game Hit With Big Xbox Delay Hours Before Release
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game Delayed Hours Before Launch, But Only On Xbox
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game launches later today, just seven hours from the time I’m typing this. Except on some platforms, that’s no longer the case, as Gameplay Group, the fighting game’s developers, has hit Avatar’s Xbox version with a significant delay with the game is hurtling down the home straight.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday night, Gameplay Group shared the bad news with those who planned on playing the Avatar Legends fighting game on release day. “For the Xbox community, we are forced to delay the release. Due to unforeseen circumstances on a backend feature, we will now launch by September 3,” the statement reads.
What that backend feature might be is anyone’s guess. The go-to problem to blame when it comes to sudden delays is the game having issues running on the Series S. That is almost certainly not the case here, as The Fighting Game will be releasing on Nintendo Switch. That version of the game has not been delayed, although there is some bad news for those who plan to play on the last-gen Nintendo platform, too.
There's Bad News For Switch Owners Too
Even though you’ll still be getting the new Avatar game today along with everyone else, only the standard edition will launch on Switch. What’s more, those of you playing on Switch won’t have crossplay functionality with other platforms, and no language localization options outside of English, at least not right away.
Both disappointing announcements that hit even harder with Gameplay Group basically waiting until release day to reveal them. The lack of crossplay may well sting for Switch players who planned to play online. That will lower the pool of potential opponents significantly. It might not be an issue at launch with a, hopefully, high enough player count on the platform, but it’s a problem that will need to be fixed sooner rather than later to keep Switch lobbies full and functional.
The icing on the cake is that, based on its reviews, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is actually pretty good. With a score of 82 on OpenCritic, not only is it the best fighting game of the year so far, but it's the highest-rated Avatar game ever. Worth noting that everyone who reviewed the game did so on either PS5 or PC, with no reviews published for Xbox or Switch. Unsurprising, particularly for Xbox, since the game needs to be fixed on the platform before it's fit for public consumption.