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Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage is one of the few AAA video games to feature Arabic audio and text. It’s also in a smaller crowd of titles to feature classical Arabic, the language that would be prominent for the golden age of Baghdad, where the game’s lead, Bassim, embarks on his adventure.
Ubisoft localization manager and cultural consultant Mohammed Alemam tells GamesIndustry.biz that the goal of localization is to capture the language’s intent while staying culturally relevant.
He and art director Jean-Luc Sala explain that including classical Arabic in Assassin’s Creed Mirage was a part of Ubisoft’s developmental focus for the game.
Sala explains, “Our philosophy usually with localization is for the player to experience it and enjoy it and not notice that it was actually translated from the source language.
“The game is fully voiced in Arabic as the launch proposition. It’s a part of the game. We [paid] special attention [to the fact] that people love to play Ghost of Tsushima in Japanese, for example. 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,” he says. “It feels more accurate to play in Arabic, even if you’re not Arabic.”
The duo explains that the implementation of the language began at the start of Mirage’s development. While the linguistic and cultural relevance required a lot of hard work, the basic translation was easy as classical Arabic is readily available and actively spoken.
Classical Arabic is still taught at schools today. So, people grow up in the Arabic region, learning [the language]Mohammed Alemam
Alemam says, “Classical Arabic is still taught at schools today. So, people grow up in the Arabic region, learning [the language]. It’s used in academia, entertainment, the news, and newspapers. Many books are [are also] written in classical Arabic as well. So people are used to it, and it’s still preserved.”
It was also the literary form of the language used from the 7th century until the Middle Ages. Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s narrative takes place in 9th century Baghdad when science, the economy, and culture were thriving.
To ensure the cultural accuracy of Mirage, Ubisoft used localization and language service provider Arlation, and eight linguistic experts worked on the game. It also worked with experts such as Dr. Raphaël Weyland and art historian Glaire Anderson.
Additionally joining Alemam were other Ubisoft staffers who assisted with the language/culture. Senior manager of inclusive games and content Maya Loréal and Malek Teffaha, diversity inclusion and accessibility senior manager of project management, worked on the project.
The development team also had help from Ubisoft’s humanities & inspiration taskforce, led by Thierry Noël, in-house historians Dr. Raphaël Weyland and Maxime Durand, and strategic alliances director Amy Jenkins.
As for the level of their involvement, Alemam explains that during each voice recording session, there was at least one cultural expert present.
That effort is understandable as Mirage is the first Assassin’s Creed title fully Arabic localized in language and text (although Alemam notes that every Assassin’s Creed title since Black Flag has included Arabic text options). At the same time, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was the first to feature an Arabic voiceover for the game in the Middle East and North African market.
The expectations for authenticity also extended to Mirage’s English voice cast. Sala says, “For the English version, some of the main actors are of Arabic heritage and speak the language themselves.
“From the names of places, people, and expressions just like salutations in Arabic, if you take non-Arabic [speaking] actors, they would be unable to [pronounce things] correctly, and it would feel odd for people with an Arabic-speaking background.
“So we knew from the beginning it was going to be diverse. [Authenticity] was part of what we needed to bring to those characters on the streets, the cast, and so forth for players to have the full experience.”
Regarding the authenticity of the culture and language, Ubisoft employed actor Eyad Nassar as the voice of protagonist Basim in the Arabic version of the game. Nassar is well known for his acting career in the Middle East, with a filmography including a number of historical dramas, so it seemed a natural fit.
Sala says the actor’s enthusiasm to join the project was mirrored by its English cast, such as Iranian and American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, who portrays Basim’s mentor Roshan, and Basim’s English voice, Lebanese-Canadian actor Lee Majdoub.
While Mirage’s Baghdad setting harkens back to earlier Asssassin’s Creed games, the smaller scale likewise leaves behind some of the more open-world aspects of more recent efforts like Valhalla, which Sala notes was a sticking point during the game’s development.
“I think the biggest [challenge] at large was to bring [the game] back to a city in Assassin’s Creed because technology has evolved to an open world; massive games with a huge landscape. When we came [up] with the idea, we also had to rebuild the technology [for it]. It’s not just a copy and paste from the previous game.”
While the overall process of Mirage’s development and Arab representation was complex, Sala explains to GamesIndustry.biz that the development team having an open mind helped a great deal.
We would feel comfortable enough to ask a question and not be worried by someone from outside telling us [that something] is wrongJean-Luc Sala
“We had a discussion about all those topics about cultural representation, respect, and accuracy. It [became] a process for everyone at every level and a daily routine. We would feel comfortable enough to ask a question and not be worried by someone from outside telling us [that something] is wrong.
“Conversations were a back and forth almost every day at one moment about whether we could further improve something. Also, it was a common fight we had, not against each other but together against potential difficulties. It was nice to see everyone had this [collaborative] mindset from the game’s music to dialogues and visual representation.”
When asked what they looked forward to following the game’s launch, Alemam says, “The translation team, the cast, the writers; everyone is proud of this, and we’re looking forward to seeing what everyone says about it.”
He adds, “I’m [also] looking forward to the sub versus dub debates that will happen between players. [Between] the people that enjoy the English language voiceover, and those that prefer the native Arabic audio while reading the subtitles instead, it’s going to be very interesting.”
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