Ubisoft Launches Standalone Discovery Tour App: AlUla to Bring Saudi Heritage to Global Audiences via Mobile and Web
ALULA / PARIS — International video game publisher Ubisoft has officially released the Discovery Tour App: AlUla, an interactive, free standalone educational application designed to showcase the history, archaeology, and cultural heritage of northwest Saudi Arabia’s historic oasis to mobile and web audiences worldwide.
Developed in partnership with British immersive technology studio Sugar Creative, the mobile application repurposes digital historical assets, architectural environments, and 3D reconstructions originally modeled for Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Valley of Memory. The standalone release follows Ubisoft’s broader initiative to decouple its noncombat historical Discovery Tour series from dedicated gaming consoles and PC hardware, delivering lightweight browser and smartphone access across seven languages including Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
The digital experience spans the historical evolution of AlUla from prehistoric civilizations through the ancient kingdoms of Dadan and Lihyan, extending to the UNESCO World Heritage Nabataean site of Hegra and the medieval trade settlements situated along the pilgrimage routes to Mecca. The interactive platform is divided into three core operational modules:
Explore AlUla: A ninety minute narrative driven journey where players investigate historical landmarks, gather historical intelligence, and complete thematic missions to decipher ancient rock inscriptions.
Access Codex: A curated digital archive featuring encyclopedic entries developed alongside regional historians, complemented by museum artifacts that users can inspect through high resolution zoom tools and integrated augmented reality projections.
Enter Chronology: An interactive historical timeline charting the civilization shifts that shaped the oasis valley across millennia.
The release arrives as Saudi Arabia accelerates cultural preservation and virtual tourism investments under Saudi Vision 2030, driven by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU). By leveraging high fidelity gaming engines, interactive 3D assets, and mobile augmented reality, the initiative demonstrates how commercial video game world building can serve as an accessible, high impact vehicle for digital cultural diplomacy and global heritage preservation.
