Tencent has shut down TiMi Montréal, the Canadian studio that operated for five years under the leadership of former Assassin’s Creed creative director Ashraf Ismail without ever releasing a title. The studio, established in 2021 as part of the larger TiMi Studio Group, was founded with the ambitious goal of building an original AAA open-world game designed for PC and consoles. That project will now never reach the public, as the closure brings an abrupt end to the team’s unreleased work.
Word of the shutdown first surfaced through Rock Paper Shotgun and other outlets after developers at the studio began sharing the news on LinkedIn. Senior gameplay programmer Alvaro Fernandez Luzuriaga wrote in a since-removed post that staff had seen the closure coming “for some time,” adding that he was “genuinely heartbroken that the public will never get to experience what this team was capable of producing.” Fellow colleagues echoed his sentiment, with one designer describing the team’s bond and talent as “one of those experiences that sticks with you for a very long time.”
Ismail, who served as creative director on some of the Assassin’s Creed franchise’s biggest entries — including Black Flag, Origins, and Valhalla — joined TiMi Montréal after departing Ubisoft in 2020. His exit from Ubisoft followed an internal investigation into misconduct allegations, though GameSpot notes there is no indication those earlier issues played any role in the studio’s closure. As of the shutdown, Ismail’s LinkedIn profile still listed him as creative director at TiMi Montréal with no mention of the studio’s fate.
While TiMi Montréal was focused on a premium console and PC experience, its parent organization TiMi Studio Group is best known for major mobile titles such as Call of Duty: Mobile, Pokémon Unite, and Age of Empires Mobile. The broader group has also ventured into the PC space with the shooter Delta Force. Tencent has not issued any official statement regarding the Montréal studio’s closure, though IGN reports that TiMi’s careers page now only lists openings based in China.
The shutdown fits a wider pattern of Chinese gaming giants scaling back their Western expansion efforts. Tencent rival NetEase has similarly retreated from overseas studio investments made during the pandemic era. The closure also follows closely on the heels of PlayStation’s decision to shut down Bluepoint Games, the acclaimed studio behind the Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls remakes, affecting roughly 70 employees. In a related note, TiMi Studio Group is believed to have been a key financial backer of Wildlight Entertainment, the developer behind Highguard, which laid off most of its staff after the game’s underwhelming reception.
Tencent remains one of the most prolific investors in the global games industry, with stakes in studios worldwide and a recently formed joint partnership with Ubisoft covering the Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six franchises. However, the demise of TiMi Montréal serves as a stark reminder that even deep-pocketed backing and veteran talent offer no guarantee a studio will survive long enough to ship its first game.