TiMi Seattle has been in the works for more than a year with dozens of key hires already in place.TiMi Montréal is kicking off development of an ambitious AAA, service-driven open-world game across multiple platforms.TiMi Montréal and TiMi Seattle are both currently focused on making games that matter for the passionate global console audience, while TiMi Los Angeles serves as a robust management and operations hub, to prepare for full-fledged global development in North America. TiMi Montréal will join TiMi Studio Group in North America following the opening of TiMi Los Angeles and TiMi Seattle. It has the potential to attract highly skilled talent to grow the city’s gaming ecosystem, which is in line with Montréal International’s efforts to promote the sector to qualified workers and investors,” said Stéphane Paquet, President and CEO of Montréal International, which is supporting TiMi, along with Investissement Québec International in the Montréal opening. “TiMi’s decision to set up in Montréal strengthens the city’s position as a top world-class video game development hub. TiMi Montréal will work with local partners to advance its sustainability initiatives as well. TiMi Studio Group is a member of Playing for the Planet Alliance, a collective effort by the games industry to decarbonise and integrate environmental activations into video games facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). To support growing the local talent pool, it will collaborate with local universities and organizations like Montréal International, which supports the attraction of international talent. TiMi Montréal is committed to the growth of the local gaming ecosystem. “Our focus is to start with console and PC platforms with the highest quality, and then let gamers all over the world play how they want regardless of platforms.” “Montréal offers access to a diverse, trend-setting work force capable of creating AAA open world experiences at a massive scale,” said Vincent Gao, head of global game development for TiMi Studio Group. TiMi Montréal will set its own creative destiny with plans to grow into a sizable team by the end of this year. The Montréal team will be challenged to create a AAA open world, service-focused video game for players to explore across multiple platforms. Tencent, which has benefited from a surge in paying gamers, said last week its online games revenue rose 29% to 39.1 billion yuan in the fourth quarter.TiMi Montréal will be a leading studio to focus on the creation and development of an original IP, with the backing of TiMi’s global development resources. Tencent did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. The sources declined to be identified because the information is not public. Aurora Studios Group, boosted by its Moonlight Blade Mobile title, contributed 3%, the people said. Of Tencent's remaining gaming revenue last year, its Lightspeed and Quantum studio, the developer of PUBG Mobile, another top-grossing game, contributed 29%, the people said, while 26% was proceeds from publishing for other developers. Timi's proceeds accounted for 40% of the game revenue, said the two people. Last week, Tencent reported 156.1 billion yuan ($23.79 billion) in overall online game revenues for 2020 but did not break down revenue for individual studios, which are run independently and compete with each other. Such games feature long sessions and in-depth storytelling or battles, with some including multiplayer online role-playing or online battle arenas. Many major studios are turning to Tencent for support to convert their "hardcore" desktop or console games to mobile. Tencent aims eventually to derive half its game revenue from overseas, from 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, the most recently available figure. Tencent is building studios overseas, including one for Timi and one for Lightspeed and Quantum, both in Los Angeles, with the goal of creating content with original intellectual property that has global appeal. In a recruitment notice last month, a Timi engineer wrote that the company aims to create a new AAA game that resembles the virtual community from the movie Ready Player One, and will "compete head-to-head against big powers from Japan, Korea, Europe and U.S."
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