Ubisoft has now properly lifted the veil on the Saudi Arabia-themed Assassin’s Creed Mirage DLC. Called Valley of Memory, the free expansion will offer at least a half-dozen hours of new content, and the devs say the spotty historical record of its al-Ula setting offered some particular challenges to development.
“The main challenge is to restore the place as it could have been in the ninth century,” according to Valley of Memory artistic director Florian Salomez, speaking in a new dev diary video shown as part of the larger reveal event. “A flourishing civilization on one side, and an ancient wilderness on the other. Just like golden age Baghdad, most documentation of this incredibly rich setting was lost to time. And as always with the Assassin’s Creed brand, we want to make sure the setting and the period shine. The recreation process is unique, as it is both an artistic and a historical endeavor.”
While there are some limitations to our modern understanding of the specifics of al-Ula, there’s still enough for Ubisoft to have created urban marketplaces, oasis-side farms, and the massive necropolis structures that still stand today.
“We have taken extra care to recreate the most iconic landmarks faithfully while still providing some fun gameplay,” according to Valley of Memory creative director Olivier Leonardi.
Mirage creative director Stephane Boudon adds that the DLC offers “more than six hours of gameplay,” as well.
Valley of Memory will still feature plenty of real-world history, with notes about the region to discover and read that Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, VP of culture of the Royal Commission for al-Ula, hopes “will encourage the players to discover more about the fascinating history and the tangible heritage of al-Ula.”
Valley of Memory is looking like sleek DLC for die-hard fans but, of course, this gets us to the elephant in the room: it’s set in Saudi Arabia, was announced in Saudi Arabia, and even employees feared it might be funded by Saudi Arabia. We now know that the country provided funding for the expansion, but we still don’t know the details of its partnership with Ubisoft.
Human Rights Watch alleges that Saudi Arabia’s investments in sports and entertainment “are used to whitewash the country’s abysmal human rights record.” The Royal Commission for al-Ula is run by a board of directors chaired by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.