Crafting Assassin's Creed Mirage for Cultural and Linguistic Authenticity

Assassin's Creed Mirage stands out as one of the few AAA games to feature Arabic audio and text, including classical Arabic, which was prevalent during the golden age of Baghdad, the setting for the game's narrative. Ubisoft's localization manager and cultural consultant, Mohammed Alemam, emphasizes the importance of capturing the language's intent while maintaining cultural relevance. Alemam and art director Jean-Luc Sala highlight that incorporating classical Arabic into the game was a key focus during development. Sala notes, 'Our approach to localization is to ensure the player experiences it seamlessly, without noticing it was translated from the source language.' The game's full Arabic voice acting was a deliberate choice, inspired by the success of games like Ghost of Tsushima, which allowed players to experience the game in Japanese. Alemam explains, 'Classical Arabic is still widely used and taught today, making it an authentic choice for the game.' The implementation of Arabic began early in the game's development, with a team of linguistic experts and cultural consultants, including Dr. Raphaël Weyland and art historian Glaire Anderson, to ensure cultural accuracy. Ubisoft also worked with localization and language service provider Arlation to achieve this goal. The development team had assistance from various Ubisoft staff members, including Maya Loréal and Malek Teffaha, who focused on inclusive games and content, as well as the company's humanities and inspiration taskforce. Alemam reveals that cultural experts were present during each voice recording session to guarantee accuracy. This attention to detail is understandable, given that Mirage is the first Assassin's Creed title to be fully localized in Arabic. The game's English voice cast also prioritized authenticity, with actors of Arabic heritage, such as Eyad Nassar, who voiced the protagonist Basim in the Arabic version, and Iranian and American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, who portrayed Basim's mentor Roshan. Sala notes that the English cast's diversity was essential for the game's authenticity, allowing for accurate pronunciation of Arabic names, places, and expressions. The game's Baghdad setting, although reminiscent of earlier Assassin's Creed games, presented a challenge due to its smaller scale, which required rebuilding the game's technology. However, the development team's open-mindedness and collaborative mindset helped overcome these challenges. Alemam and Sala look forward to the game's launch, anticipating the response from players and the debates about subtitles versus dubbed audio. Alemam adds, 'Everyone involved in the project is proud of what we've accomplished, and we're eager to see how players react to it.'