ATUATANGA - The First Full-Length Virtual Reality Game in Te Reo Māori Launches Globally
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERES
Atuatanga will make its international festival debut at imagiNATIVE — the world’s largest Indigenous film and media arts festival — from June 1st to 8th, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. Atuatanga featured at the Māoriland Film Festival (March 2024), where it won the People's Choice Award, and also screened at Doc Edge Festival (June 2024) in Aotearoa.
Atuatanga won the People's Choice Award at the Māoriland Film Festival.
Blending ancient knowledge with futuristic vision, Atuatanga immerses players in a post-apocalyptic world, where Purākau (ancient storylines), reo Māori and puoro (Māori music) take the player on a journey of transformation. It is built using unreal engine by Whanganui based company Wild eye, it has a runtime of approximately 40 minutes and is built for Quest 2 and 3 headsets. Atuatanga VR presents a bold new direction for Indigenous storytelling in the digital age.
Creative Wiremu Grace at Takapūwāhia Marae
Award winning director Wiremu Grace says “Atuatanga is an important step in combining the latest VR technology with the traditional storytelling methods of my ancestors. This bridging of the cultural and technological divide has been a driving factor for me.
Wiremu Grace, Tame iti and Patricia Grace at Māoriland in Ōtaki.
“We’re offering a uniquely Māori lens on global issues - climate change, spiritual balance and the importance of Indigenous language, story and culture.
“Atuatanga takes you deep into a Māori post-apocalypse world where the earth lies on the brink of collapse. Guided by a Turehu (Māori fairy), you travel to the realms of the Atua (Māori gods) to awaken them and restore balance to the world.
“The immersive VR allows you to come face to face with Tāwhirimātea, god of wind and weather, fly through the underworld mycelium of Tāne Mahuta, god of the forest, and awaken Hineahuone, the first human form, from the sacred red earth of Kurawaka. These are interactions with the atua that have no parallels and are accessible to international audiences for the first time.”
Atuatanga is one of only a small number of New Zealand products on the META Quest store. It demonstrates Māori-led success in the uptake of innovative technology in New Zealand’s growing gaming industry.
Link Whakaata Māori interview.
Link to Waatea Radio interview.
