Tencent shuts down TiMi Montreal and cancels project from Assassin’s Creed director

Chinese gaming powerhouse Tencent has officially shuttered TiMi Montreal, a high-profile North American subsidiary established to develop blockbuster open-world titles. The closure, confirmed through internal communications and employee statements, marks the end of a five-year venture that failed to bring a single project to the public eye. The move underscores a growing trend of Chinese tech conglomerates scaling back their once-aggressive investments in Western triple-A development.

Founded in 2021 as part of the TiMi Studio Group, the Montreal branch was tasked with creating ambitious, multi-platform games. To lead this effort, the studio recruited seasoned veterans from the local industry, most notably Ashraf Ismail. A former creative director at Ubisoft, Ismail was the visionary behind some of the most successful entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, including Black Flag, Origins, and Valhalla. His appointment was seen as a strategic coup for Tencent, signaling its intent to compete directly with established Western publishers in the premium console and PC market.

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The news of the dissolution first surfaced after employees took to social media to share the development. A senior gameplay programmer at the studio described the situation as heartbreaking, noting that while the team had been aware of the impending shutdown for some time, the finality of the decision remained difficult to process. Former staff members praised the talent and camaraderie within the office, expressing deep regret that the public would never see the work the team had produced over the last several years.

Despite its prestigious leadership and significant backing, TiMi Montreal never officially announced a project or disclosed any co-development work on existing Tencent titles. The lack of tangible output during its tenure appears to have contributed to the decision to wind down operations. Industry analysts suggest that the high costs of North American development, combined with long production cycles and a shifting global economic climate, have made such ambitious Western satellite studios increasingly difficult to justify for parent companies in China.

This closure is not an isolated incident for Tencent’s North American footprint. In 2023, the company also shuttered Team Kaiju, a Los Angeles-based studio led by veterans from the Halo and Battlefield franchises. These successive retreats, alongside similar cost-cutting measures from competitors like NetEase, indicate a strategic pivot toward more cautious international investment. While Tencent remains a dominant force in mobile gaming through hits like Call of Duty: Mobile and Honor of Kings, its attempt to build a Western-based "AAA" powerhouse from the ground up has faced significant headwinds.