There is provided a system and method for server-side avatar pre-rendering. There is provided a server for providing pre-rendered avatars, the server comprising a memory and a processor. The processor is configured to receive a request from a client for an avatar distinguished by a unique identifier to be pre-rendered, retrieve avatar render data using the unique identifier, process the avatar render data through an avatar pre-render application to create a pre-rendered avatar in a defined representation, write the pre-rendered avatar into the memory, and send the pre-rendered avatar from the memory to the client in response to the request. The pre-rendered avatar may further be written to a non-volatile storage, providing cached responses to future requests of the pre-rendered avatar. The avatar render data may include vectors or polygons, and the defined representations may include static bitmap images or animated video segments.