AlUla | BETH – Feb 11, 2026

In a creative collaboration that brings together the digital gaming industry and cultural heritage, the breathtaking landscapes and archaeological sites of AlUla take center stage in Ubisoft’s latest release within the Assassin’s Creed franchise, titled “Mirage: Wadi of Memories.” The update introduces AlUla to a vast global audience through one of the world’s most iconic video game brands.

The new release draws inspiration from AlUla’s dramatic desert terrain, lush oasis, and the ancient sites of Hegra (Al-Hijr) — Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. These elements have been carefully integrated into the game’s virtual environments and narrative, combining historical accuracy with the demands of a modern interactive experience.

In this chapter of the series, the game’s protagonist Basim ibn Ishaq journeys to AlUla alongside his companion Dervis, within a storyline that presents the location as an integral part of the narrative rather than merely a visual backdrop, strengthening the presence of Saudi geography within global gaming storytelling.

Development teams worked closely with archaeology and heritage specialists from the Royal Commission for AlUla and partner entities to ensure an accurate and balanced historical representation of AlUla in the 9th century CE. This included careful attention to tomb designs, inscriptions, and stone architecture, while allowing limited adaptations to serve gameplay needs without compromising the authenticity of the sites.

Players are able to explore a range of AlUla’s prominent landmarks, including the Lion Tombs of Dadan, the AlUla Oasis, AlUla Old Town Castle, Elephant Rock, the pathways of Jabal Ikmah (the “Open Library”), and Nabataean tombs in Hegra, within an interactive experience that mirrors the real landscape and brings it to life for a global audience inside a widely accessible entertainment platform.

BETH Comment | Strategic Reading

AlUla’s entry into one of the world’s most widely distributed entertainment platforms represents a qualitative shift in how heritage is deployed within tools of digital soft power. The site is no longer presented solely as a tourism destination, but reimagined as a living narrative space within a global youth culture shaped today by gaming and interactive platforms.

This model of partnership reflects a broader transformation in cultural promotion:
from the tourism brochure to the virtual world,
from passive viewing to interactive experience.

In this sense, AlUla is transformed from “a place to be visited” into “a story to be lived,” marking a profound shift in how the mental image of place is constructed in global consciousness.

BETH Summary

Integrating AlUla into a global digital cultural product is not a mere entertainment detail, but a strategic move in the contest over image and identity.
When historical geography enters the world of gaming, it shifts from local memory to global experience—
and this is where soft power truly begins its work.