Massive, the Ubisoft studio behind The Division series is currently developing Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora for next-gen console and PC hardware. In a new and impressive Snowdrop Tech Showcase we get to see how the team is taking the engine that brought New York City and Washington D.C. to life and upgrading its capabilities for the lush and vibrant Pandora.

Which is of course the same setting from James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi epic Avatar, though the game will feature locations not seen in the film. In the following video we see impressive environments lit by ray-traced global illumination and reflections alongside impressive animation and scope. The team outlines how it took the city-based tech and expanded it to render seemingly countless plants and flowers and glowy Pandora foliage.



As for the game itself, its story will be separate to that of the film (and the planned sequels) but is described as an open-world adventure -- one where you can also take to the skies and fly through impressive volumetric clouds. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is on track for a 2022 release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

Massive is also working on a game set in the Star Wars universe, so we can probably expect it to feature the same visual enhancements seen here.