Echoes of Revolution: Boston launches today, bringing Boston's revolutionary history to life

Echoes of Revolution: Boston, a free city-scale augmented reality experience for mobile devices, using the world of the video game Assassin's Creed® III to bring Boston's revolutionary history to life, launches today across downtown Boston, coinciding with America's 250th anniversary.

Echoes of Revolution: Boston was created by Welsh creative technology studio Sugar Creative in partnership with Ubisoft, one of the world's leading video game publishers and the creator of the Assassin's Creed franchise, and developed with the historical expertise and curatorial guidance of Revolutionary Spaces, Boston's foremost organisation for Revolutionary-era history.

This 90-minute experience invites players to explore ten location-based memories across downtown Boston, in the streets where revolutionary history happened. The memories can be played in any order, and content spans pivotal Boston revolutionary moments including the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's ride, and the intelligence and organising networks centred on the Green Dragon Tavern.

Powered by Niantic Spatial's Visual Positioning System (VPS), which anchors digital content in the physical world with sub-10cm accuracy, Echoes of Revolution: Boston layers a digitally reconstructed revolutionary Boston directly onto today's streets. The experience uses imagery from the worlds of Assassin's Creed® III and Assassin's Creed® Rogue, video games featuring meticulously researched depictions of 18th-century Boston. It is designed for families, school groups, tourists, history enthusiasts, and gamers alike. No prior knowledge of video games or of Assassin's Creed is needed to play. The experience is available for free on both iOS and Android.

“Ubisoft is excited about using the worlds of Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed Rogue to bring key moments of the American Revolution to life for visitors exploring the streets of Boston and New York City,” said Amy Jenkins-Le Guerroué, Strategic Alliances Director, Ubisoft.

“It's great to have a new way to engage with Boston's incredible Revolutionary history landscape for the America250 celebrations and beyond. Audiences we don't usually see will have a great reason to explore,” said Matthew Wilding, Senior Director of Interpretation & Future Planning, Revolutionary Spaces.

“At Niantic Spatial, we're building real-world foundation models for physical AI that make the world machine-readable for people and machines. Our Visual Positioning System gives developers the geometric, real-world accuracy that anchors digital content precisely in physical space, and we're thrilled to support Sugar Creative and Ubisoft in showing what that unlocks,” said Joe Gabriel, Senior Partnerships Manager, Niantic Spatial.

“Boston stands apart for its history, revolutionary spirit, and innovation. Echoes of Revolution brings all of this together by allowing people to see through augmented reality how Boston's bold ideas and actions helped spark the Revolution 250 years ago in an innovative and exciting way,” said Ellen Foord, Chief Creative Officer, City of Boston.

“As the US celebrates 250 years of its independence, it is fantastic to see Sugar Creative, a Welsh firm, working closely with historical experts across Boston to bring the stories of the American revolution to life in a unique immersive experience. 250 years on from the revolution, the modern partnership between the US and the UK is stronger than ever. This project shows the potential of US-UK collaboration in the creative industries, using modern technologies to tell stories in ways that will capture the imagination of new generations,” said David Clay MBE, His Majesty's Consul General to New England.

“Projects of this ambition depend entirely on the quality of the people you work with. We've been fortunate to find in Revolutionary Spaces and Ubisoft partners who care as much about getting it right as we do. It's a source of real pride that it's a Welsh studio helping to bring Boston's revolutionary story back to life,” said Jason Veal, Managing Director, Sugar Creative.

Revolutionary Spaces stewards the historic Old South Meeting House and Old State House, which serve as the physical home in downtown Boston, where visitors can access information, support, and materials about the experience in person.

Echoes of Revolution: Boston was made possible with significant R&D funding from the innovation programme Media Cymru (part of UKRI's flagship Strength in Places Fund) which exists to make a fair, green, global hub for media innovation in Wales. It also received R&D investment from T-Mobile, focused on the integration of next-generation 5G and geo-spatial technology in location-based AR.

Echoes of Revolution: Boston is available to download free on iOS and Android from today, and will run for two years from launch with ongoing content. For more information, visit echoesofrevolution.com.

Sugar Creative (project lead, Boston press): Jason Veal, jason@sugar.agency.

Ubisoft press enquiries (Echoes of Revolution: Boston): Anthony Acosta, anthony.acosta@ubisoft.com.

Niantic Spatial: Tom Glover, Senior Director Communications, tg@nianticspatial.com.

Revolutionary Spaces: Amanda Bertone, Director of Marketing & Communications, abertone@revolutionaryspaces.org.

Echoes of Revolution: Boston is an XR experience for mobile devices. It is a cultural experience and an app that uses game technology and the world of Assassin's Creed® III. It is not a video game. Scenes and imagery come from the video games Assassin's Creed® III and Assassin's Creed® Rogue and remain the property of Ubisoft.

Press kit, including key art and logos, available at echoesofrevolution.com/press.