Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Expands Language Options with Arabic Voice Work
Released on October 5th, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage transports players to medieval Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age. Offering a new level of immersion, the game now allows players to experience the journey with subtitled Classical Arabic voice work. Inspiration for this feature came from Ghost of Tsushima’s success with its Japanese language option.
Ghost of Tsushima Inspires Assassin’s Creed’s Arabic Language Option
In a recent interview with Games Industry.biz, Mirage’s art director Jean-Luc Sala and cultural consultant Mohammed Alemam shared insights about the game’s localization priorities.
Ubisoft typically focuses on ensuring players understand the spoken dialogue, as seen in the Animus translations featured in previous Assassin’s Creed games. However, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage takes a different approach by offering Arabic as a standard language option. This decision was influenced by Sucker Punch Productions’ Ghost of Tsushima, which provided players with Japanese voice acting and English subtitles to deliver a more authentic experience.
Sala emphasized the impact of Ghost of Tsushima: “We [paid] special attention [to the fact] that people love to play Ghost of Tsushima in Japanese, for example.”
The Arabic spoken in Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is Classical Arabic from the 9th century. While there have been language developments over time, many Arabic speakers today still understand and use this medieval form. Sala stated, “Honestly, it would have been a shame to miss that opportunity to return to the Middle East with Assassin’s Creed and not [include] a language that is still here.”