It’s an enormous surprise that Ubisoft pulled on the Assassin’s Creed Mirage! And I supposed nobody was hardly ready for it. The official Assassin’s Creed Twitter handle announced that later this year, a huge free update that includes a new story chapter, new missions, and gameplay improvements will release for Mirage. And the greatest part?! Absolutely free. No season pass. No microtransactions. Just free content. How crazy is this?
So what’ll it be? Here we have new story content set in 9th-century AlUla, an ancient historical site in what is presently Saudi Arabia. This is no minor and inconsequential add-on—we’re talking an actual chapter with new missions to elaborate on Basim’s story. Ubisoft further promised improved gameplay for the new locations as well as for the base game. That sort of investment is insane for anyone who already owns the game.
Then, of course, player reactions… mixed but mostly favorable? People like Offhand Disney are saying, “Best AC game in over a decade getting FREE story DLC” with tons of excited emojis. Then Legacy chimed in, “So glad they have decided to continue to support the game with more content!” and I can add a big, “Me, too!” Altaïr (not the character, obviously, but rather an Ubi fan) says, “It’s great that they’re strengthening ties to the Middle Eastern roots since that’s where assassins literally come from.” Definitely a good point.
An ugly voice always finds its way through though. There’s always one, right? Well, the user marv1nfcb went with the classic: “DLC for the worst game of the series,” complete with dead rose emojis. Ouch. There is lelelus, however, who sniggers, “All 4 ac mirage players are pissing themselves right now,” which is a bit mean. But hey; everyone else is genuinely excited. Some say they will re-download the game now, while others will be sold on finally picking it up with a possible Game Pass stint some hope for.
Informative side chatter is also happening here. Quite a few people are flooding in asking about Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the forthcoming Japan game, whether these gameplay tweaks will carry over or not. Most likely no but hey. Other users are begging for new outfits and swords—which would be hilarious in itself. That then sparks a conversation about Denuvo with a user demanding its removal from older titles; just another topic altogether.
But what really hits home is the investment some brethren have in the lore. One whole thread is cracking up with somebody asking the BasimIbnIshaq_ (who seems to be role-playing as Basim’s wife) how exactly they get all of their insider info, joking if they are in fact secretly one of the writers or interns at Ubisoft. This community around these games is something else, man.
On the character front, several players are hoping to see more Roshan, voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo, who was a definite highlight in the base game. One user suggested a spin-off for her story, which… honestly, that would be a blast; she did an amazing job.
This sort of thing put a little intrigue in me because Mirage was indeed the less ambitious, more back-to-basics Assassin’s Creed in comparison to the big RPGs like Valhalla and Odyssey. AKA, giving them the free DLC with a new location and story content is their way of showing commitment to the game and its players. When everything nowadays is attached with some extra price, free meaningful content is very welcome.
An actual release date is yet to be announced, with only “later this year” being thrown around, so keep an eye out for more information. This might be a perfect opportunity to jump in if you haven’t gotten around to Mirage yet. And if you even finished it, well, you got a reason to go back to Baghdad… and now to AlUla as well. This is literally player-based, and seeing a company without immediately asking the player for more money is refreshing. More of this, please.
