Uncle Iroh Joins Avatar Legends' Year 1 DLC Roster

"Uncle Iroh is a massively popular Avatar character who many fans were hoping to see," is how most coverage is framing it, and for once that's not an exaggeration. At EVO 2026 today, developer Gameplay Group and publisher PM Studios pulled back the curtain on the full Year 1 Pass for Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game, and the lineup reads like a fan wishlist: Uncle Iroh, Ty Lee, Lin Beifong, and Bolin, with a fifth slot being handed directly to the community.

Iroh leading the DLC roster is the smartest move Gameplay Group could have made. He's arguably the most beloved character in the entire Avatar franchise, someone who transcends the usual "favourite character" discourse because almost nobody dislikes him. From a gameplay perspective, his fire breath and dragon-style attacks from the show give the team plenty to work with, and I'd be surprised if his kit doesn't lean into a slower, more deliberate playstyle to contrast the base roster's speed. The other three picks cover solid ground too. Ty Lee's chi-blocking opens the door for a non-bender who can suppress opponent abilities, Lin Beifong's retractable metal whips could make her a range-control specialist, and Bolin's eventual mastery of lavabending gives him a kit identity well beyond "another earthbender."

The Community Gets a Vote

The fifth and final DLC slot won't be decided by the studio. Fans who pre-order the game will get to vote on one of five candidates: Amon, Kuvira, King Bumi, Asami, or Tenzin. It's a smart bit of community engagement, though I'd note that four of the five options are Legend of Korra characters, which tilts the pool pretty heavily toward the sequel series. King Bumi is the lone Last Airbender representative, and given his cult following, I wouldn't count him out. Amon feels like the frontrunner to me; a villain whose entire identity revolves around stripping benders of their powers is too interesting a gameplay concept to pass up.

The voting window opens in late summer, according to the announcement, and is exclusive to players who pre-order. Tying the vote to a purchase is a mild nudge toward early commitment, but at $29.99 for the Standard Edition, the barrier isn't exactly steep. The Deluxe Edition bundles the Year 1 Pass alongside a digital art book, soundtrack, unique HUDs, and all five DLC characters as they release.

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game itself launches July 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam, with full cross-play support from day one. A closed beta runs July 2 through 5 for anyone who pre-orders. The physical edition and a Nintendo Switch 2 version are both coming later in 2026.

Two things stand out here beyond the character reveals. First, $29.99 with cross-play at launch is a price point that removes a lot of the usual friction for fighting games trying to build an audience. Second, the hand-drawn 2D animation style, rollback netcode, and frame data in training mode suggest Gameplay Group is trying to serve both the casual Avatar fanbase and the FGC crowd simultaneously. Whether they can actually pull that off is the question that July 23 will answer, but the Year 1 roster at least shows they know which characters will get people through the door.