Publisher Astrea and Co-Producers Aardman and Atlas V have announced the launch of a new Wallace & Gromit VR adventure on the Meta Quest Store.
As unveiled during the UploadVR Winter Showcase, Publisher Astrea and co-producers Aardman and Atlas V (the VR pioneer behind experiences like the Emmy winner Madrid Noir, and the recently announced Gundam Silver Suit), have announced that Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway has launched for the Meta Quest platform, including the hilariously fun Mixed Reality experience Jamtastic!
Astrea Immersive presents Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway, a VR adventure from multi-award-winning independent animation studio Aardman and immersive storytelling experts Atlas V, where fans are invited to join Wallace and his loyal canine companion Gromit as they navigate a series of delightful situations in a brand new immersive chapter for the duo. The experience is developed by UK-based studio No Ghost and the French studio Albyon.
The iconic stop-motion animated duo’s first virtual reality experience is an interactive, narrative-led VR experience for Meta Quest VR headsets, which will take fans on a brand-new adventure with much-loved characters Wallace and Gromit.
As they get ready for their golfing getaway with their new contraption Auto-Caddy and their assistant Beryl, they quickly realize that Wallace had his dates mixed up, and that the only way to make it to Bognor Regis golfing resort on time is by taking the Rocket. But ever the maker of his own misfortune, Wallace soon causes mayhem with a clumsy mishap which sends their Rocket flying off course to Mars, where their adventure begins.
The immersive experience unfolds across twelve distinct chapters, allowing users to play as AutoCaddy, Gromit, and Wallace as they navigate a cinematic virtual reality experience. The Grand Getaway leverages the magical presence of VR technology to forge a new frontier in immersive storytelling, where players will experience the excitement of becoming part of a Wallace & Gromit film.
You’ll be doing all the sorts of things you see the guys doing in the films! Repairing, launching, tuning and eating crackers of course! There’ll be some more mechanical gameplay as well, focusing on skill, timing and puzzle solving.
Lawrence Bennett, Technical director UX and Gameplay Director at No Ghost
Finbar Hawkins and Bram Ttwheam are co-directing the experience for Aardman with the support of Academy Award® winner and creator of Wallace & Gromit, Nick Park, and Wallace & Gromit Creative Director Merlin Crossingham. Ben Whitehead will again voice Wallace, as he has done for previous Wallace & Gromit projects, following in the footsteps of the late Peter Sallis.
Our mission at Aardman is to create worlds that our fans can have many windows into. Even though we cherish all the craft that goes behind every format we create, we know people ultimately want to hang out with the characters we create, and in the worlds we build, to be drawn through the stories we tell. This transcends formats, and VR & MR is the perfect tool to translate people deep into these spaces and let them explore and play.
Dan Efergan, Executive Creative Director of Interactive at Aardman
Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway and Jamtastic! are a co-production between Aardman, Atlas V, in association with No Ghost and Albyon, with the support of immersive distributor and publisher Astrea and the Meta Quest team, and for Jamtastic!, the German producer Reynard Films.
Our hope is that players will come away from The Grand Getaway with the same joy and laughter they get from watching a Wallace & Gromit film, but enhanced by the immersive nature of VR. We want them to feel like they’ve stepped into a 360-degree Wallace & Gromit movie, interacting and engaging with their beloved characters in a whole new way.
Antoine Cayrol and Arnaud Colinart, Executive Producers of the experience and Atlas V Co-Founders
Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway and Jamtastic! are out now for Meta Quest. Watch the release trailer below, which first premiered on the Upload VR Winter Showcase, made in collaboration with IGN.
