James Cameron lobbies for Avatar MMO

The first video game adaptation of James Cameron's Avatar wasn't exactly a hit with players, but the director/3D visionary isn't ready to give up on the idea.

Cameron noted recently that he believes the franchise is ideally suited for a massively multiplayer online game, much like "World of Warcraft" or the upcoming "Star Wars: The Old Republic".

"I think Avatar is a perfect IP for an MMO," Cameron told IGN. "It's a very, very big world and based on the first film, you might not sense that, but we're talking about an entire planet, an entire alter world, and in fact a universe that has other planetary bodies, as well, and other cultures, other life forms.

"Eventually people will see enough scope to be able to see how the MMO will work, but that's going to have to be launched... the timing of that is going to have to be carefully orchestrated with the release of the second and third film because we don't want to be giving away elements before the fact."

The Avatar game, published by Ubisoft, failed to take off as expected – and was a drag on the publisher's 4Q 2009 earnings. It wasn't a flop by any means, though. While critics lambasted it, the game sold more than 2.7 million copies.