TiMi Studio Group

Formerly| TiMi Studios
Type| Subsidiary
Industry| Video games
Founded| December 3, 2008; 17 years ago (2008-12-03)
Headquarters|

Shenzhen

China

Number of locations

| 6 (2025)

Areas served

| Worldwide

Key people

| Colin Yao
(vice president of Tencent & president of TiMi Studio Group)

Products| Notable Games

* Honor of Kings
* Arena of Valor
* QQ Speed: Mobile / Garena Speed Drifters
* Contra Returns
* Software:Call of Duty: Mobile
* Pokémon Unite

Parent| Tencent Games
Divisions| TiMi-J1|TiMi-J3|TiMi-L1|TiMi-T1|TiMi-Z1|TiMi-G1

Website| www.timistudios.com

TiMi Studio Group (Chinese: 天美工作室群; pinyin: Tiānměi Gōngzuò Shìqún) is a video game developer group based in Shenzhen. A subsidiary of Tencent Games, it operates branches in Singapore, Los Angeles, Chengdu, and Shanghai. TiMi generated an estimated revenue of US$10 billion in 2020. Reportedly, TiMi is the largest video game operator and developer in the world by revenue.[1] Founded in 2008 as Jade Studio, TiMi comprises several development divisions, developing titles such as Honor of Kings, Arena of Valor, Software:Call of Duty: Mobile, Speed Drifters, Pokémon Unite and Delta Force.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 2008–2013: Origins as Jade Studio
* 1.2 2014–2016: Formation of TiMi Studio Group and Chinese success
* 1.3 2016–2020: Worldwide growth, Arena of Valor, Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokémon UNITE
* 1.4 2020–2025: Team Kaiju, Code: J, Delta Force
* 1.5 2025-present: Designation as a "Chinese military company" by the US
* 2 List of games
* 3 Notes
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## History

### 2008–2013: Origins as Jade Studio

TiMi began in 2008 as Jade Studio[lower-alpha 1] in Shenzhen, China. The studio debuted into the Chinese PC gaming market with QQ Speed[lower-alpha 2] (known as GKART and Speed Drifters in Western markets), China's most successful racing game. As of July 2, 2019, Speed Drifters has 700 million registered users, with 200 million registered as mobile players.[2] Following Speed Drifters, the studio released its own massive multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG) titled The Legend of Dragon[lower-alpha 3] in 2010 and first-person shooter (FPS) Assault Fire in 2012. In 2013, the studio released their final PC game which is a third-person shooter (TPS) titled Age of Gunslingers before they made their debut into mobile gaming with the release of WeChat exclusive games such as We Match and We Run.

### 2014–2016: Formation of TiMi Studio Group and Chinese success

In 2014, Jade Studio merged with Wolong Studio from Chengdu and Tianmeiyiyou Studio from Shanghai to form TiMi Studio Group.[3] Following the merge, in 2015, the group's development division TiMi-L1 debuted into mobile gaming with the massive Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, Honor of Kings. As of July 2019, Honor of Kings is the most profitable mobile game globally of the first half of 2019, earning more than $728 million.[4]

In 2016, the division introduced the King Pro League (KPL); an official competitive esport for Honor of Kings.[lower-alpha 4] The KPL marked the division' and studio group' first entry into esports.[5]

### 2016–2020: Worldwide growth, Arena of Valor, Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokémon UNITE

Following the success of Honor of Kings, in 2016, the group's development division TiMi-J6 released Arena of Valor.[lower-alpha 5] The MOBA game was launched for mobile and Nintendo Switch in over 50 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and South America, expanding the group's reach worldwide, with more than 13 million monthly active users reported in May 2019.[6] The game became a part of the esports demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games, 2019 Southeast Asian Games and 2022 Asian Games.[7][8][9][10]

On March 19, 2019, at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, Activision announced that they were partnering with TiMi Studio Group to develop their upcoming title, Software:Call of Duty: Mobile.[11] The game was developed by the TiMi-J3 division and released worldwide on October 1, 2019. As of October 4, 2019, the game has surpassed 35 million downloads and over $2 million in revenue.[12] In December 2019, the game received an award for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards.[13]

In June 2020, it was announced that the studio group and The Pokémon Company are developing a new Pokémon game, which was revealed on July 21, 2021, called Pokémon UNITE, a Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game for mobile and Nintendo Switch.[14][15][16][17]

### 2020–2025: Team Kaiju, Code: J, Delta Force

In May 2020, the studio group announced ex-343 Industries and Ubisoft developer Scott Warner as Studio Head in North America.[18] Scott Warner will lead TiMi's Team Kaiju (stylized as TEAM KAIJU), which was revealed on 15 October 2021. The subsidiary is working on one unnamed first-person-shooter (FPS) game for the PC and console market.[19][20]

On June 27, 2020, the studio group and SNK announced a new unnamed mobile game, Code: J, for the classic arcade franchise Metal Slug.[21]

In November 2020, the studio group announced that Honor of Kings set a record of 100 million average daily active users worldwide.[22]

In July 2021, the group established a new division located in Canada, Montréal. The division's classification is TiMi-F1 and the development focus is an AAA open-world game.[23][24]

In May 2021, the studio group announced a strategic partnership with Xbox Game Studios.[25][26]

In June 2022, TiMi L1 Studio, a development division of the group, announced a strategic partnership with Level Infinite on publishing Honor of Kings world-wide, where Level Infinite will take over the publishing, eSports, but TiMi the operations and community. The five versus five video game in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre will adapt on areas where TiMi L1 Studio's Arena of Valor have a shared eSports with in Honor of Kings World Championship (KCC), under TiMi eSports, but did not reach the expected player base.[27][28][29]

Honor of Kings was launched worldwide on June 20, 2024, following pre-releases in Brazil and Turkey as well as countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.[30][31]

Delta Force, a free-to-play first-person tactical shooter video game, was released for Windows, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S in 2025.[32][33]

### 2025-present: Designation as a "Chinese military company" by the US

In January 2025, TiMi Studio Group's parent Tencent was labelled as a Chinese military company by the United States Department of Defense.[34] After five years without releasing a game, TiMi Montreal was shut down in February 2026.[35]

## List of games

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Year  | Title  | Genre(s)  | Platform(s)  | Development division(s)

|
|
|
|

2007  | QQ Three Kingdoms | Massively multiplayer online role-playing | Microsoft Windows | L1
2008  | QQ Speed (GKART / Speed Drifters) | Racing  | J1
2011  | The King of Dazzling Fighters / King of Combat[36] | Fighting | J1
2012  | The Legend of Dragon | Massively multiplayer online role-playing | Z1
Assault Fire[37] | First-person shooter | J3
2013  | Age of Gunslingers[38] | Third-person shooter | J3
We Match[39] | Casual | Android, iOS | T1
Parkour Everyday[40]
We Drift[40] | J1
2014  | We Fight[41] | L1
Fantasy Fighters[42] | Fighting  | J1
2015  | Crossfire Mobile[43] | First-person shooter  | J3
Honor of Kings[44] | Multiplayer online battle arena | L1
2016  | Arena of Valor[45][46][47] | Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch | L1
The Legend of Dragon: Mobile | Massively multiplayer online role-playing | Android, iOS  | Z1
2017  | Contra Returns  | Run and gun  | J1
King of Chaos[48] | Role-playing | T1
QQ Speed: Mobile / Garena Speed Drifters[49][50] | Racing  | J1
2018  | PUBG Army Attack[51] | Battle royale  | J3
Battle Through The Heavens  | Massively multiplayer online role-playing | Z1
Saint Seiya: Awakening  | Turn-based strategy role-playing | L1
2019  | Let's Catch Demons Together! / Let's Hunt Monsters | Casual | J1
Software:Call of Duty: Mobile[52][53][54] | Shooter | J3
2021  | Pokémon Unite | Multiplayer online battle arena, real-time strategy | Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch  | J1
2022  | Age of Empires: Return to Empire[55] | real-time strategy  | Android, iOS  | T1
2023  | Metal Slug: Awakening  | Run and gun  | J1
Party Stars | Battle-royal, racing, party  | T1
2024  | Need for Speed Mobile | Racing  | J1
Delta Force | First Person Shooter  | Android, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, PC  | J3
TBA  | Honor of Kings: World | Action-adventure | TBA  | L1
TBA  | Monster Hunter Outlanders  | TBD  | Mobile devices and phones[56] | J1
TBA  | Crossfire: Rainbow (Project: Spectrum)  | First person/Third person shooter, Extraction shooter  | PC and consoles  | J1

## Notes

1. ↑ Chinese: 琳琅天上工作室
2. ↑ Chinese: QQ飞车端游
3. ↑ Chinese: 御龙在天
4. ↑ Chinese: 王者荣耀
5. ↑ Chinese: 傳說對決

## References

1. ↑ Li, Pei; Munroe, Tony (2 April 2021). "Exclusive: Tencent's Timi gaming studio generated $10 billion in 2020, sources say" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tencent-videogames-exclusive-idUSKBN2BP0FG.
2. ↑ ""QQ飞车"用户超过7亿，11年来它的成绩到底如何？ - 触乐". https://www.chuapp.com/article/286492.html.
3. ↑ "腾讯互娱成立4个工作室群 任宇昕：快速高效 激励创新_游戏_腾讯网". 2016-08-06. http://games.qq.com/a/20141009/020906.htm.
4. ↑ Li, Gabriel (2019-07-05). "Honor of Kings Becomes Most Profitable Mobile Game Globally in the First Half of 2019" (in en-US). https://pandaily.com/honor-of-kings-becomes-most-profitable-mobile-game-globally-in-the-first-half-of-2019/.
5. ↑ Fitch, Adam (2018-09-17). "King Pro League expands into APAC, finds news non-endemic sponsors" (in en-GB). https://esportsinsider.com/2018/09/king-pro-league-apac/.
6. ↑ Lee, David (2019-07-14). "Arena of Valor Enjoys Skyrocketing Popularity Like its Chinese Counterpart Honour of Kings" (in en-US). https://pandaily.com/arena-of-valor-enjoys-skyrocketing-popularity-like-its-chinese-counterpart-honour-of-kings/.
7. ↑ Adrian Lai (2019-12-08). "SEA Games 2019: Philippines Win Mobile Legends Gold" (in en-sg). https://sea.ign.com/mobile-legendsbang-bang-android/155966/news/sea-games-2019-philippines-win-mobile-legends-gold.
8. ↑ Ng, Jacky (2019-12-07). "Inside the Singapore AoV squad at SEA Games 2019: Before the tournament" (in en-US). https://www.oneesports.gg/arena-of-valor/inside-the-singapore-aov-squad-at-sea-games-2019-before-the-tournament/.
9. ↑ "Thái Lan giành huy chương vàng Liên Quân tại SEA Games 30" (in vi). 2019-12-09. https://znews.vn/thai-lan-gianh-huy-chuong-vang-lien-quan-tai-sea-games-30-post1023361.html.
10. ↑ Etchells, Daniel (2008-08-09). "Schedule for Asian Games esports demonstration event released". Inside the Game. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1068577/schedule-for-asian-games-esports-demonstration-event-released.
11. ↑ Machkovech, Sam (2019-03-19). "Call of Duty Mobile announced for iOS, Android, made by China's Tencent" (in en-us). https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/03/call-of-duty-mobile-announced-for-ios-android-made-by-chinas-tencent/.
12. ↑ Lyles, Taylor (October 4, 2019). "Call of Duty: Mobile Reaches 35 Million Downloads in 3 Days". https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/call-of-duty-mobile-reaches-over-35-million-downloads-in-three-days/.
13. ↑ Awards, The Game. "Mobile Game: Nominees". https://thegameawards.com/nominees/mobile-game.
14. ↑ Ng, Sue (2019-07-23). "China to finally get official game three years after Pokemon Go ban" (in en). https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3019788/chinese-fans-excited-tencent-and-pokemon-team-develop-new-game.
15. ↑ Romano, Sal (2019-07-22). "Tencent TiMi Studio Group developing new Pokemon title" (in en-US). https://gematsu.com/2019/07/tencent-timi-studio-group-developing-new-pokemon-title.
16. ↑ Carter, Chris (June 24, 2020). "Game Freak's big new Pokemon announcement is Pokemon Unite, a strategic battle game with Tencent" (in english). https://www.destructoid.com/stories/game-freak-s-big-new-pokemon-announcement-is-pokemon-unite-a-strategic-battle-game-with-tencent-595342.phtml.
17. ↑ "Pokémon UNITE | Video Games & Apps". https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-unite/.
18. ↑ "Scott Warner to lead Tencent's new TiMi Studios location in LA". May 20, 2020. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-20-scott-warner-to-lead-tencents-timi-studio.
19. ↑ Wilde, Thomas (15 October 2021). "Interview with creative director at Tencent subsidiary TiMi's new Seattle studio, 'Team Kaiju'" (in en-US). https://www.geekwire.com/2021/interview-creative-director-tencent-subsidiary-timis-new-seattle-studio-team-kaiju/.
20. ↑ Batchelor, James (15 October 2021). "Tencent-owned Team Kaiju is searching for the untapped fantasies of first-person shooters" (in en). https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-15-tencent-owned-team-kaiju-is-searching-for-the-untapped-fantasies-of-first-person-shooters.
21. ↑ Romano, Sal (2020-06-27). "Tencent-developed Metal Slug Code: J announced for iOS, Android" (in en-US). https://www.gematsu.com/2020/06/tencent-developed-metal-slug-code-j-announced-for-ios-android.
22. ↑ Li, Pei (2020-11-01). "Tencent's Honor of Kings reports 100 million daily users, expands into new genres" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tencent-videogames-honorofkings-idUSKBN27H1HX.
23. ↑ Ye, Josh (20 October 2021). "Tencent said to form gaming studio for metaverse-like developments" (in en). https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3153035/tencent-said-sharpen-focus-metaverse-developments-advanced-new-gaming.
24. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (19 July 2021). "Tencent's TiMi opens third North American triple-A game studio in Montreal" (in en-US). https://venturebeat.com/2021/07/19/tencents-timi-opens-third-north-american-triple-a-game-studio-in-montreal/.
25. ↑ "官宣！腾讯天美工作室群正式与Xbox Game Studios达成战略合作关系". http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA4ODA2MjM5Nw==&mid=2656159665&idx=1&sn=7b156d011bbf8ac94212a7383a974175&chksm=8b8a8763bcfd0e757b4b3a0b8eb259f3643ace2de77cf350cbc19aeb204ba78a821311d338be#rd.
26. ↑ Peters, Jay (2021-05-13). "Xbox is partnering with the studio behind the world's biggest mobile games" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/13/22434272/xbox-tencent-timi-studios-strategic-partnership-mobile.
27. ↑ Astle, Aaron; Writer, Staff (June 9, 2022). "Honor of Kings global mobile launch confirmed for 2022". https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/78951/honor-of-kings-global-mobile-launch-confirmed-for-2022/.
28. ↑ "Level Infinite and TiMi Studio Group to launch 'Honor of Kings' globally on mobile devices" (in en-US). 2022-06-09. https://www.animationxpress.com/games/level-infinite-and-timi-studio-group-to-launch-honor-of-kings-globally-on-mobile-devices/.
29. ↑ "Level Infinite Bersama dengan TiMi Studio Group Siap Luncurkan Honor of Kings Secara Global" (in id). https://voi.id/teknologi/176650/level-infinite-bersama-dengan-timi-studio-group-siap-luncurkan-honor-of-kings-secara-global.
30. ↑ Sheehan, Gavin (18 May 2024). "Honor of Kings Continues Global Rollout To New Areas In June". https://bleedingcool.com/games/honor-of-kings-continues-global-rollout-to-new-areas-in-june/.
31. ↑ Wu, Jessie (21 June 2024). "Tencent's hit mobile game Honor of Kings expands to over 160 countries". https://technode.com/2024/06/21/tencents-hit-mobile-game-honor-of-kings-expands-to-over-160-countries/.
32. ↑ Morris, Iwan (2024-12-06). "Delta Force pre-orders now open for Android and iOS" (in en). https://www.pocketgamer.com/delta-force-2025/pre-registration-open/.
33. ↑ Carcasole, David (2025-08-19). "Delta Force Is Out Now on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, Includes Exclusive Rewards for Console Players" (in en-US). https://wccftech.com/delta-force-out-now-ps5-xbox-series-x-s/.
34. ↑ Walker, Ian (2025-01-07). "Tencent added to ‘Chinese military company’ blacklist in the U.S." (in en-US). https://www.polygon.com/news/504829/tencent-chinese-military-company-blacklist-united-states-department-defense-donald-trump.
35. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (February 22, 2026). "Tencent closes TiMi Montreal game studio" (in en). https://www.gamefile.news/p/tencent-timi-montreal-closed.
36. ↑ "炫斗之王 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". http://xd.qq.com/.
37. ↑ "逆战官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://nz.qq.com/m/index.shtml.
38. ↑ "枪神纪 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://tps.qq.com/main.shtml.
39. ↑ "天天爱消除 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://peng.qq.com/m/.
40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "天天酷跑 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". http://pao.qq.com/m/main.shtml.
41. ↑ "天天来塔防 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://tafang.qq.com/m/.
42. ↑ "天天炫斗 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://ttxd.qq.com/m/index.shtml.
43. ↑ "穿越火线:枪战王者 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://cfm.qq.com/m/main.shtml.
44. ↑ "王者荣耀 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://pvp.qq.com/m/.
45. ↑ "傳說對決 官方网站 - 腾讯和Garena游戏". https://moba.garena.tw/.
46. ↑ "Arena of Valor". https://www.arenaofvalor.com/m/.
47. ↑ "Arena of Valor for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details" (in en-US). https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/arena-of-valor-switch/.
48. ↑ "乱世王者 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://slg.qq.com/m/main.html.
49. ↑ "QQ飞车手游 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://speedm.qq.com/m/main.shtml.
50. ↑ "Garena Speed Drifters". https://speed.garena.com/main.
51. ↑ "绝地求生:全军出击 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". http://pubgm.qq.com/m/.
52. ↑ "使命召唤手游 官方网站 - 腾讯游戏". https://codm.qq.com/cp/a20190421yuyz/.
53. ↑ "Call of Duty: Mobile" (in en). https://www.callofduty.com/mobile.
54. ↑ "Call of Duty: Mobile - Garena Official Website" (in en). https://codm.garena.com/.
55. ↑ Obedkov, Evgeny (2022-03-30). "Return to Empire aka Age of Empires Mobile breaks into top 10 highest-grossing iOS games in China" (in en-US). https://gameworldobserver.com/2022/03/30/return-to-empire-aka-age-of-empires-mobile-breaks-into-top-10-highest-grossing-ios-games-in-china.
56. ↑ bobh (2022-11-08). "TiMi Studio Group and Capcom Co., Ltd. working on a new Monster Hunter Title" (in en-US). https://www.timistudios.com/timi_capcom_monster_hunter/.

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