Tencent Closes Montreal Game Studio
Tencent has closed its TiMi Montreal game studio after five years of operation. The studio was shut down without having released a single game, highlighting the financial risks of large-scale, slow-moving creative projects in the current market, where nimble operations are seen as more resilient.
- The studio was established in July 2021 with the ambitious goal of creating a large-scale, AAA open-world game intended to be a live-service title across multiple platforms. - TiMi Montréal aimed to build a sizable team and actively recruited experienced developers from other major studios in the city, including Ubisoft, Google Stadia, EA, Rockstar Games, and Bethesda. - Ashraf Ismail, a former creative director known for his work on the *Assassin's Creed* franchise at Ubisoft, served as a consulting creative director for the studio. - This closure is not an isolated event for Tencent; its L.A.-based studio, Team Kaiju, which had recruited talent from the *Halo* and *Battlefield* development teams, was also shut down in 2023. - The shutdown reflects a broader strategic shift by Chinese gaming giants like Tencent and NetEase, who are re-evaluating their investments in North American and other Western studios due to rising development costs. - Tencent's current gaming strategy is increasingly focused on developing "evergreen games"—titles with long-term revenue potential and large player bases—rather than pursuing numerous, costly new projects. - The closure adds to a series of layoffs and shutdowns within the prominent Montreal game development hub, which has recently seen staff reductions at other major companies like Eidos Montreal and NetEase Games. - Despite the studio's five-year operational period and its high-profile talent, TiMi Montréal never publicly announced the specific project or intellectual property it was developing.
