Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Tencent has reportedly shut down TiMi Montreal, the new studio led by long-time Assassin's Creed director Ashraf Ismail, without having released a single game. Ismail made a name for himself by serving as the creative director on a host of beloved Ubisoft releases, including Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Origins, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After allegations of workplace impropriety and an internal investigation into misconduct, he was fired from Ubisoft in 2020 and later joined TiMi Montreal as creative director in 2022. Game File now reports on the studio's alleged closure, citing a now-unavailable LinkedIn post from a former employee who says staff had known about the impending shutdown "for some time" and "the public will never get to experience what this team was capable of producing." It's worth noting that Ismail's account still lists him as a TiMi Montreal creative director. Ubisoft hits "major reset" button, cancels 6 games, delays 7 more, and confirms 4 new IP Former Assassin's Creed director says AAA studios "mistakenly" throw people at development problems As Ubisoft shuts down a freshly-unionized studio, worker's union says it will "pursue every legal recourse" Timi Montreal itself opened almost five years ago and was working on a "AAA open-world, service-focused" game, said to be an original IP in development for multiple platforms. The developer was part of Timi Studio Group, a Tencent subsidiary responsible for multiple major smartphone hits, such as Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokemon Unite, though the wider Timi Studio Group seems unaffected by the news. 2026 isn't looking much brighter in terms of studio closures and layoffs than the last few years, either. Sony recently shut down Bluepoint Games, the acclaimed developer behind Demon's Souls PS5 and Shadow of the Colossus PS4 remake. The maker of free-to-play shooter Highguard, also a company that allegedly received Tencent backing, suffered from layoffs weeks after launch as well. "Several" Assassin's Creed single-player and multiplayer games to come, Ubisoft promises, plus more Far Cry amid further "restructuring across the company"