Who Owns Avatar Now? from ViacomCBS to Skydance

Since 2021, the company that owns Avatar has gone by four names: ViacomCBS, Paramount Global, Paramount Skydance and now Skydance. Two of those changes came from mergers that closed 14 months apart. The two people running Avatar Studios have stayed in place through all of it. Here is what each change did to the franchise, and what it didn't touch.

The org chart today

Parent company: Skydance, the name the combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery uses in press releases and at skydance.com. Paramount.com still runs as its own site.
Home division: Nickelodeon Animation, where Avatar Studios is a division based in Burbank.
Creative leads: Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar Studios' co-chief creative officers.
Streaming: Paramount+, the exclusive streaming home for Avatar Studios' animation.
Games: Paramount Games Studio, a co-publisher of Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game.
Licensed out: Netflix's live-action series, which Avatar Studios does not make, plus books, toys and other games from partners such as Dark Horse, Abrams, Jazwares and Magpie Games.

2021: a studio for the creators

ViacomCBS announced Avatar Studios at its Investor Day on February 24, 2021. It was set up as a Nickelodeon division, led by co-creators DiMartino and Konietzko, to make new animated series and films. Its first announced project was an animated feature that became Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.

The creators had left Netflix's live-action adaptation over creative differences the year before. ViacomCBS renamed itself Paramount Global in February 2022.

The Avatar Studios logo Image: Avatar Studios / Nickelodeon

August 2025: Skydance takes over Paramount

Skydance's takeover of Paramount closed on August 7, 2025, with David Ellison as CEO. In the reshuffle, Nickelodeon moved under George Cheeks' TV Media group. Ramsey Naito, the executive DiMartino and Konietzko originally reported to, gave up oversight of Nickelodeon's TV animation to focus on Paramount Animation features.

On October 30, 2025, Naito announced she was leaving Paramount Animation after eight years. Her exit came during layoffs that Cartoon Brew said affected about 2,000 US workers. No public statement has said who Avatar Studios reports to now.

December 2025: Paramount+ becomes the home, and theaters lose Aang

On December 23, 2025, Paramount+ took the Aang film off its October 9, 2026 theatrical date and announced it as a streaming premiere. The same release named Paramount+ the exclusive streaming home for Avatar Studios' animation, including Seven Havens. Director Lauren Montgomery and many fans objected. Paramount gave no reason, and Slate later tied the shift to Skydance's takeover.

The film, retitled Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, reached Paramount+ on July 25, 2026, after a one-week, awards-qualifying run in Los Angeles and New York. Our release-saga explainer has the full timeline.

Exclusivity has limits. SkyShowtime carries Avatar Studios titles in several European markets, and the original series stays on Netflix in the US under a license reported to run to about April 2027.

Paramount+ is the streaming home for Avatar Studios shows such as Seven Havens Image: Paramount+ / Nickelodeon / Avatar Studios

June 2026: a new games studio, and the RPG stops

Paramount announced Paramount Games Studio on June 5, 2026, combining Skydance Interactive and Skydance New Media with Paramount's own games team. Tony Driscoll is president. The studio counts Avatar among its four core franchises, with TMNT, SpongeBob and Star Trek.

Around the same time, Shawn Kittelsen, the studio's head of creative and production, told IGN that the AAA Avatar RPG announced with Saber Interactive in 2024 wasn't in production when the new team arrived. He said a AAA Avatar game could still come in a different form. Konietzko answered on Instagram that the game had suffered a big setback but had been reset, not cancelled. No update has followed. The studio's Avatar release this year is the fighting game, which launched July 23.

October 2026: Warner Bros. Discovery and a new name

Paramount Skydance closed its roughly $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026, putting Nickelodeon, Paramount+ and HBO Max under one roof. The combined company now presents itself as Skydance.

The deal did worry some fans. During the European review in June, Bloomberg reported that Paramount was open to selling some kids TV assets, and fan site Knight Edge Media speculated that Avatar could be affected. The final terms, reached after a settlement with 12 state attorneys general, list divestitures such as BET, Comedy Central and VH1, and no children's networks.

A memo from David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz warned of layoffs during integration. No effect on Avatar Studios has been reported. Three days after the close, DiMartino and Konietzko were on the New York Comic Con Main Stage renewing Avatar: Seven Havens for Books 3 and 4 and announcing Avatar Kuruk: Wave of Chaos.

Who's still in charge

DiMartino and Konietzko remain co-chief creative officers, and no leadership change has been reported. Konietzko is also showrunner on Wave of Chaos.

Eric Coleman is described as CEO of Avatar Studios in official Braving the Elements podcast materials and on Wikipedia, but trade press hasn't confirmed the title. Joan Hilty is the studio's executive editor.

What hasn't held is the film plan. In 2022, Paramount described the Aang movie as the first of three animated Avatar films. At Comic-Con in July, DiMartino said the studio is making TV series, "not features at the moment." A report that a Zuko film was shelved traces to Knight Edge Media, which cited no sources, and remains unconfirmed.

So far, the ownership changes have decided where Avatar streams and which games get made. They haven't changed who makes the shows.