AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game is a Disaster for XBOX and Switch

4 days ago 9

Published Jul 23, 2026, 11:25 AM EDT

Lauren has experience in the gaming and esports space, writing news, guides, features, reviews, lists, conducting interviews, and more.

Before joining the team at DualShockers, Lauren was a Features Writer at Adventure Gamers, a Guides Writer at Gameranx, as well as contributing as a News Writer at PCInvasion and Daily Esports.

She also founded GameScout and holds a History degree.

The highly anticipated release of AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game was supposed to be July 23, 2026, on PlayStation, Xbox Series X|S, and the Nintendo Switch 2. Less than 24 hours before the game was expected to go live, it was announced that the game had been delayed on Xbox, and some features are missing from the Nintendo Switch edition.

AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game brings together all the elements, allowing players to master the use of water, fire, air, and earth to take over the battlefield and outwit their opponent in 1v1 fights. There are 12 playable characters to learn at launch and a range of game modes to use them in, such as Offline and Online Versus modes, Story, Arcade, Training, Spectator, and an Art Gallery, all paying homage to the history of the series.

Ahead of launch, the team behind AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game, Gameplay Group International, issued platform-specific updates for the Xbox Series family of systems and the Nintendo Switch.

First of all, the launch of AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game has been delayed on Xbox Series X|S, which the developers put down in a statement on X to "unforeseen circumstances on a backend feature.” No details have been provided as to what the issue is, but it’s significant enough for a new AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game release date to be issued on Xbox, now expected to be "by September 3, 2026."

Those who have placed a pre-order on Xbox will see this remain active, as they won’t be automatically canceled. If you want to cancel your pre-order, you must initiate the process manually through the Microsoft Store.

Moving on to Nintendo Switch, the only version of AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game available on this platform is the Standard Edition. However, the biggest letdown is that crossplay will not be supported between Nintendo Switch and other platforms at launch. Language localization is also a missing feature, meaning the game will only be playable in English.

The developers are "committed to bringing these features, along with upgrading to Deluxe Edition.” A date for when this will arrive on Nintendo Switch is yet to be revealed, but it’s expected that more details on progress and a release window will be detailed in the near future.

The AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game Deluxe Edition contains five characters that will be released throughout the game’s first season: Iroh, Ty Lee, Lin Beifong, Bolin, plus a final character that Deluxe Edition owners will vote on. This version of the game also comes with an original soundtrack and a digital artbook.

The delay [...] is likely to leave a sour taste in the mouths of many players who were looking forward to the game, due to the fact that the notification of the delay came so close to the launch date.

Losing player trust is never a good move, but the launch of MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls is just around the corner as another big hitter entering the fighting genre on August 6, 2026. Additionally, having an entire player base absent at the launch of a fighting game like AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game that relies on online play can be detrimental to its success.

Only time will tell whether or not the game can recover from such a disaster. Luckily, AVATAR LEGENDS: The Fighting Game has a dedicated fanbase and positive critical reviews on its side. If the developers are able to act quickly on the Nintendo Switch side and issue regular updates on their progress with the Xbox version, there’s a chance the game can battle its way out of this hole.