Tencent quietly killed a five-year AAA studio — and it tells a bigger story

A five-year AAA experiment died without a demo

What just collapsed in Montreal wasn’t just another studio layoff. It was Tencent pulling the plug on a half-decade attempt to seed an internal Western-facing AAA open-world team – a costly experiment that never produced a playable product. Staff posts and industry sources indicate TiMi Montréal quietly closed around February 20-21, 2026. The project was described internally as a service‑focused, multi‑platform open‑world original IP; externally, Tencent and TiMi have declined to comment.

Key takeaways

• TiMi Montréal, created July 2021 to make AAA open‑world games, reportedly shut down after five years without shipping a title.
• Studio head Ashraf Ismail – former Assassin’s Creed creative director – remains listed as TiMi Montréal creative director on LinkedIn despite the closure.
• The shutdown fits a larger pullback by Chinese publishers from ambitious Western expansion and leaves an unreleased, service‑focused IP in limbo.
• Tencent/TiMi offered no public statement; the closure surfaced via staff LinkedIn posts and industry reporting.

Why this matters now

Five years is a long runway to burn without a product. Big publishers can tolerate long development cycles so long as they see progress: vertical slices, prototypes, IP plans, or strategic hires. When a studio like TiMi Montréal — built explicitly to make open‑world, multi‑platform AAA games — shuts quietly after five years, it’s a signal that something fundamental changed in the parent company’s calculus. Either the project failed to meet internal benchmarks, or corporate priorities shifted elsewhere.

This closure also removes an experienced hand from the talent market. Ashraf Ismail’s name carries weight because of his Assassin’s Creed pedigree (notably Black Flag). The studio’s end leaves a cluster of senior developers untethered — people who could either bolster other Western studios or disappear into smaller teams. For an industry where experienced open‑world talent is hard to replace, that’s consequential.

The uncomfortable observation

The PR-safe line would be to treat this as “normal portfolio adjustment.” Don’t buy it. This looks like retrenchment. Over the last 18 months, Chinese publishing heavyweights have dialed back their aggressive Western expansion: funding rounds scaled down, select studios closed, and international hiring pulled back. TiMi Montréal’s shutdown fits that pattern. The company built a studio specifically to compete in Western AAA and then — quietly — closed it without explaining why. That’s not a single failed project; it’s the end of a strategy.

A brief historical anchor

This is neither the first nor the only recent shock. Sony’s unexpected closure of Bluepoint and other sudden studio exits in 2025-26 show publishers are less tolerant of long, expensive bets that don’t make strategic sense. For Tencent, which has experimented with both internal Western studios and strategic investments, this reads as a course correction — and a reminder that scale and capital alone don’t translate to steady AAA output.

The question nobody’s asking (but I would)

If I were across the table from Tencent’s PR rep I’d ask three blunt things: what happens to the code and assets? Will any of this IP be reassigned to other TiMi teams or sold? And what protections are being offered to the people who spent five years on this project? Public silence and a deleted LinkedIn post aren’t answers.

What to watch next

• Official comment from Tencent or TiMi Studio Group — any statement will reveal whether this is a studio closure or part of a wider restructure.
• Ashraf Ismail’s LinkedIn and public statements — he still lists himself as TiMi Montréal creative director as of Feb 23, and his next move will indicate whether talent is staying in the market or quietly exiting.
• Job postings from TiMi and other Tencent divisions — new hiring (or lack of it) in Western markets will show if Tencent still plans to invest there.
• Asset reallocation notices or IP filings — transfers to other studios or sales would show whether this project’s work might still see daylight.

Also note a factual tangle in early reporting: one outlet misattributed the studio to NetEase. Multiple industry sources confirm TiMi Montréal was part of Tencent’s TiMi Studio Group, not NetEase — that confusion matters because it muddies who’s actually retreating from what.

TL;DR

TiMi Montréal — a Tencent-backed studio launched in 2021 to build AAA open‑world games — shut down around Feb 20-21, 2026 after five years without shipping. The closure signals a retreat from costly Western AAA experiments and leaves an unreleased, service‑focused project and experienced talent in limbo. Watch for any official Tencent/TiMi statement, Ashraf Ismail’s next steps, and where the studio’s assets and people end up.