AI investment to bring Peaky Blinders virtual reality game to life

A virtual reality drama game based on Peaky Blinders using Artificial Intelligence technology has been backed by Government investment.

For the first time, characters in the game will respond according to the players’ gestures, movement, voice, sound and body language.

The project is being led by London-based immersive VR studio, Maze Theory and is scheduled to launch next year.

The funding is part of a £12m package of investment being shared between 21 projects that is designed to put UK creative industries “at the cutting edge” of latest virtual and augmented reality technologies.

A separate project is benefiting from £4m to develop new immersive storytelling experience, enabling people to join adventures with Wallace & Gromit, looking in any direction, and see and feel part of the action.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “Success stories like award-winning Wallace & Gromit and BAFTA-winning Peaky Blinders are part of the reason why our creative industries are truly world-leading – attracting audiences both here in the UK and internationally and helping create a sector already worth some £100bn to our economy.

“This backing will also give our home-grown talent the opportunity to lead the way in creating and using virtual and augmented reality technologies, remain at the cutting edge and create thousands of highly-skilled jobs.”