Two years after launch, Assassin's Creed Mirage is getting surprise free DLC adding a second city to the game

Ubisoft has announced that 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage will not only be getting a substantial-sounding surprise DLC before the end of the year, it's going to be a completely free update to the game.

Details are scant, but Ubisoft said the DLC would consist of a "new story chapter and missions" set in a new zone separate from the base game's representation of medieval Baghdad. This addition of a new open world area is particularly surprising given that Mirage was the first single-city Assassin's Creed game since 2015's Syndicate.

Assassin's Creed Mirage players, we have a surprise coming your way later this year! 📖 New story chapter & missions set in 9th century AlUla🎮 Gameplay improvements for the base game and the new location🎁 All for free Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/8CjB3MRvfRAugust 23, 2025

And Ubisoft's choice of locale really got my history nerd juices flowing: Al-Ula, an oasis city in modern Saudi Arabia that has been inhabited by a succession of cultures since 5,000 BC. Most notably for cool videogame setting purposes: The Nabataeans, who left stunning monolithic rock-cut buildings in al-Ula that resemble their more famous cousins at Petra in Jordan.

We're talking primo climbing and tomb delving territory here, and adding a full, separate zone like this almost feels like expansion pack territory, which further contributes to my shock at it being a free update. It's particularly odd given that Assassin's Creed Shadows released to good reviews and strong sales earlier this year. PCG's foremost AssCreed expert, Morgan Park, particularly loved how much Splinter Cell DNA was in the stealth this time around.

Morgan was a bit cooler on Mirage back when it launched, writing that it felt more like a "stepping stone" to the series returning to form⁠—and it seems to have been just that, given Shadows' reception. The timing makes me wonder if Mirage's DLC was meant to be a paid expansion, but a lengthy development time verging into Shadows' big success inspired Ubi to write it off as a goodwill gesture. I'm willing to bet that the influx of new Mirage purchases in a post-Shadows plus free DLC glow could very well exceed what Ubisoft might earn selling a DLC to current owners of the game.

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Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.

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