Last month, Ubisoft gave Assassin's Creed Mirage fans a seemingly pleasant surprise with the shockingly low-key announcement of free DLC for the game. As the weeks have worn on, however, the fact that the DLC is set in Saudi Arabia, was announced in Saudi Arabia, and that even employees fear it might be funded by Saudi Arabia has been raising some red flags.
The DLC was announced at 4am ET on August 23, and as Game File (paid article link) reports, the unusual timing coincided with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot's appearance at Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh as part of the Global Sport Conference. The DLC is set in AlUla, an ancient site geographically located in modern Saudi Arabia.
"We are working with AlUla," Guillemot said, "which is a UNESCO site, which is not known yet very much. But we are creating content that will be given for free to players that play Mirage, and they will be able to go in that site."
The DLC announcement and Guillemot's appearance in Riyadh followed a report from French outlet Les Echos earlier this year that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, or PIF, was building a deal with Ubisoft on some sort of Assassin's Creed Mirage expansion. Game File reports that Ubisoft employees have been concerned about company's dealings since Guillemot reportedly joined a number of French political and business leaders in meeting with Saudi leaders last year.
In a message sent from Ubisoft's worker-led Comité Social et Economique, published by Game File and Google translated, management was asked: "Doesn't management believe that seeking a contract with a person accused of crimes against humanity for ordering the assassination (including dismemberment and dissolution in acid) of a journalist could contribute to the Ubi-bashing the company is currently suffering?"
That "bashing" is in reference to Ubisoft's fears that its negative reputation among players could be a threat to its business, a fear it's mentioned in financial reports. Management responded by saying that its participation in such a meeting would "ultimately help disseminate—among other things—our country's democratic values."
Ubisoft has not disclosed the nature of its relationship with Saudi Arabia, but told Game File in a statement that "This title update to Assassin’s Creed Mirage was made possible thanks to the support of local and international organizations, through access to experts, historians and resources to ensure the creation of an authentic and accurate setting."
Ubisoft later followed up with IGN to say that it had creative control over the Assassin's Creed Mirage DLC, as with all content related to the franchise.
Human Rights Watch alleges that Saudi Arabia's "PIF investments in high-profile sports and entertainment events domestically and internationally are used to whitewash the country’s abysmal human rights record." The country hosts everything from F1 races to WWE events, and the PIF owns stakes in numerous game publishers ranging from EA to Nintendo.
