A newly surfaced report reveals that Ubisoft employees have voiced objections over alleged business ties with Saudi Arabia. While the company has avoided confirming or denying whether the new Assassin’s Creed Mirage DLC is linked to Saudi funding, insiders raised tough questions to management about its rumored dealings with the kingdom.

On September 10, 2025, journalist Stephen Totilo of Game File published an investigation detailing how Ubisoft staff privately confronted management earlier this year. Concerns arose after reports surfaced that CEO Yves Guillemot and other executives accompanied French president Emmanuel Macron to Saudi Arabia in 2024, where they met Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and senior Saudi officials.

According to the report, Ubisoft’s Social and Economic Committee (CSE) pressed leadership directly, asking if “pursuing a deal with a man accused of crimes against humanity, including ordering the murder and dismemberment of a journalist, might worsen the Ubi-bashing the company is already enduring.”

Management allegedly defended Guillemot’s involvement, stating: “His presence on the President’s official trip as the head of a globally recognized French cultural and tech company contributes to France’s soft power.” The executives then added, “We do not comment on rumors.”

Ubisoft leadership also reportedly drew a line between MBS and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth vehicle. They argued that the PIF’s financing should not be viewed as MBS’s personal fortune, emphasizing: “Engaging with partners who do not share our democratic principles doesn’t mean abandoning those values.”

The CSE dismissed this reasoning as “naive”, pointing out that management avoided answering how such ties might affect Ubisoft’s public image. Then, in January 2025, French outlet Les Echos claimed the company had struck a partnership with Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of the Saudi PIF.

The deal allegedly involved producing DLC for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, even though Ubisoft developers had said in a 2024 AMA that the title was intended as a standalone experience with no expansion plans. Despite never confirming such a contract, Ubisoft announced on August 23, 2025, that Mirage will indeed get free DLC set in the historic Saudi city of AlUla.

The add-on was officially revealed by Guillemot himself in Riyadh during the New Global Sport Conference. When pressed by Game File on whether the PIF financed the project, a Ubisoft representative replied: “This content update for Assassin’s Creed Mirage was made possible thanks to the support of both local and international organizations, with input from experts and historians to ensure an authentic setting.”

GamesIndustry.biz reached out separately, receiving the same prepared statement: “At this time, we are not disclosing further details beyond confirming that the Mirage update was supported by local and international organizations, alongside historians and experts, to guarantee authenticity.”

Source: GameIndustry.biz