Aardman and Fictioneers release 'The Big Fix Up'

In the first ever AR experience for Wallace & Gromit, Aardman has partnered with Fictioneers for the release of ‘The Big Fix Up’. Starring the famed British duo, the new app which launches today uses the power of augmented reality to follow the iconic characters’ first new adventure in a decade, their latest business venture, Spick & Spanners, taking on the challenge of fixing up the city of Bristol, with the player as the new employee of the company.

Available on iOS and Android devices in the UK, US and Canada, the free app creates a narrative-driven experience, taking the user through AR gameplay, CG animations, in-character phone calls, extended reality (XR) portals, and comic strips. In the new storyline, inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit’s new business venture takes on a contract to “Fix-Up” Bristol, the city where Aardman is based.

Using the latest technology, fans will be able to interact in a host of new ways and get closer than ever to Wallace & Gromit. The experience is rich and multi-layered, realised through innovation and technology.

Richard Saggers, Chief Operating Officer, Fictioneers said: “We are incredibly proud of The Big Fix Up, which will be the first immersive adventure from our new venture Fictioneers. It’s been an amazing collaboration among the three partners Potato, Tiny Rebel Games and Sugar Creative, and of course the wonderful team at Aardman. It’s truly groundbreaking work which demonstrates the huge opportunity to evolve the ways stories are told. Above all it’s a great example of what a diverse, multi-disciplinary team of creative talents can achieve together.”

Merlin Crossingham, Creative Director of Wallace & Gromit at Aardman said: “ Wallace & Gromit have innovation, gadgets, and technology at the comedic heart of their world. Working with Fictioneers to create The Big Fix Up has been a perfect fit, allowing us to bring the duo’s fantastic fictional contraptions right into our audiences homes using the latest real technology.”

Scott Ewings, Venture Lead at Potato and co-founder of Fictioneers, said: “We are really excited to launch The Big Fix Up, the first release from our new Fictioneers studio. We believe it’s a first-of-its-kind experience, part of our vision to harness multiple technologies, media types and formats to tell enhanced, collaborative and immersive stories in real time. To do this, we have developed a software platform, the MUST Platform, to enable creative teams to design real-time stories, timelines and activities and then integrate a variety of transmedia to support those stories. With The Big Fix Up, we have created a new, rich and multi-layered experience, where, for the first time ever, YOU can become part of Wallace & Gromit’s story. This will be the first of many releases using the Fictioneers platform.”

‘The Big Fix Up” is voiced by award-winning British actors Miriam Margolyes and Jim Carter, along with Isy Suttie, Grace Ahmed, Joe Sugg and Ben Whitehead as Wallace. You can view the full list of characters for the story here.

You can watch the teaser clip here.

Using 3D mapping platform Fantasmo, Fictioneers created a city-scale augmented reality experience to bring the Bristol city center to life at home. Fictioneers worked with Unity Technologies, using its new Mixed and Augmented Reality Studio product and AR Foundation toolkit to build mixed reality and AR applications. Fictioneers, is a collaboration of partners including Potato (part of the AKQA network), Sugar Creative and Tiny Rebel Games, with research support from the University of South Wales. “The Big Fix Up” also is backed by funding from the government’s UK Research & Innovation.

The Big Fix Up is a unique storytelling experience, take part in the full adventure from the comfort of your own homes by downloading the app on iOS or Android.