How Ubisoft Bordeaux Built Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s Golden Age Baghdad

Assassin’s Creed Mirage brings players to 9th Century Baghdad during the city’s Golden Age. In 861, Basim Ibn Has’haq, the protagonist, begins his journey in the city that was the cultural and technological epicenter at the time. The Baghdad-based version of Assassin’s Creed Mirage impressed me after I played it for more than 2 hours in the France-based Ubisoft Bordeaux office. 

I love the open-world RPGs of the series’ recent years, especially Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey, but I’d be lying if I said I was a fan of their respective cities. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy them, but they weren’t memorable in the same way Assassin’s Creed II’s Florence or Assassin’s Creed Unity’s Paris was. And that’s because these cities were inserted into gigantic maps I’d eventually wholly explore. In Mirage, the majority of the game happens within the city walls of Baghdad and already, I can see how well the team has built it to be a parkour playground and a narrative hotbed for Basim’s Hidden Ones training. 

This series makes me feel like I will be able, for the very first time, to master the movement of a city, from both the rooftops and the ground. Mirage is a celebration of 15 years since the release of the original Assassin’s Creed. It feels refreshing and aligns with that connection. Ubisoft Bordeaux told me how they built Baghdad. This was especially interesting to learn after learning that this Baghdad had been destroyed in 1258 by the Mongols. 

“It’s true, nothing’s really left,” Mirage artistic director Jean-Luc Sala tells me. Baghdad wasn’t the only place. Some older cities were around, like Sumatra. After consulting with historians, we began to research and reconstruct. [Baghdad].”

Sala said the team studied the writings and descriptions made by people who had traveled to Baghdad during the Mongol Invasion. The team does not have any physical materials of Golden Age Baghdad but they do have a large amount of literature about it. (Much of the literature is scattered throughout the office, on bookshelves and on desks). As he led the visual assault of Mirag’s Baghdad, he drew on his experiences living in the area. 

“I was born on the opposite side of the Tigris River from where I now live.” [Iranian Revolution in 1979],” he says. It was a very intimate experience for me knowing that I would be working in this setting. Although I don’t know the setting, I can still appreciate the sunlight, people, and the atmosphere. […]It was a memory I held dear. It’s like a lost paradise to me. We lost the city, but I also love this part of my life and it had an emotional impact on me – the feelings, the smells, stuff like that.” 

Sala said he, along with the rest of the team, are particularly excited to bring a new perspective on a place that is, today, likely defined better (but unfortunately) by its role in the American war in Iraq as well as the media tropes. 

“When you work on Vikings, everyone has an idea of what the Viking Age should be,” Sala says, explaining the training everyone went through to better understand 9th Century Baghdad and the region’s culture. It’s difficult to get the real facts about what [Baghdad] was. The challenge was to make it unique. […]Something new, something true and exciting for everyone.” 

Sala says that when building up the city, the team was focused on density. The studio’s first project it led, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Wrath of the Druids DLC, was about massive landscapes in Ireland. The focus on a single city, however, brings back the traditional parkour of Assassin’s creed. 

“It was not a choice for us,” Sala says. “It was just like, ‘We want a city to go to.’ “It felt like saying ‘The Boys and Girls are Back in Town’.” 

The team, led by Stephane Boudon, knew from the start that the focus should be on the city. The fact is that Baghdad was at the heart of Basim’s story. When we began to research Baghdad we found so many resources to build a great story and an immersive city. 

Sala says that building Baghdad was also a spiritual link to the original Assassin’s creed. Mirage allows the team to recreate a Middle Eastern city like that which started the series. This brings back the unique layout and architecture of the Middle East, perfect for parkour adventures. Baghdad has a similar feel to Assassin’s Creed’s Jerusalem but is also unique. 

“Everything was already there,” he adds, noting that Baghdad feels perfect for an Assassin’s Creed adventure. 

Baghdad is a great city. The city is lively, easy to navigate, and, most importantly, I’m able to memorize it like Basim. I only visited two of its various districts, and I didn’t get to go into the Round City at the heart where a massive palace resides, but I can’t wait to do so next month.

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