THQ closes Homefront developer

By Fred Dutton Published 13 June, 2011

Bilson: Montreal HQ to take over franchise.

THQ has closed down Kaos Studios, the developer behind its recent Homefront FPS.

Zach Wilson, who was a level designer and writer at the New York-based studio, broke the news on his Twitter feed earlier today.

"That's what I'm hearing, that Kaos is shutting down, details to come. Most of the devs already have jobs with new studios anyways," read one post.

"It'll be interesting to see how THQ corporate spins this one," read a second, quickly followed by, "I hear the studio got a box of Saint's Row-branded dildos with a note that read 'Go f*** yourselves.'"

THQ has subsequently confirmed the news to Gamasutra.

"THQ continues its strategy of aligning the best industry talent with the company's marquee franchises," read a statement from the publisher.

"The Montreal studio will take over product development and overall creative management for the Homefront franchise. The Montreal studio actively collaborated with Kaos on Homefront."

Speaking to Eurogamer at E3 this week, THQ's core games boss Danny Bilson suggested that key members of the Homefront team would be relocated its Canadian studio.

"We said all along that Montreal will be an important home for that franchise in the future. The best talent from the game will always be invited and involved. I love that team. I worked really hard with that team and supported them. We'll still support the talent that built that game."

Kaos, who also developed 2008 shooter Frontlines: Fuel of War, started life back in 2006 rising from the ashes of Desert Combat team Trauma Studios.

Back in March, Bilson explained that the studio's future depended on how well Homefront performed.

"I tell them the more successful a game is, the better the economics are for the franchise, and that will help to influence what we do. So we haven't made any decisions at the moment. That's the truth. We're going to look at how it goes. We don't want to relocate people just to relocate people.

"A lot of it has to do with how successful it is and how strong that core team comes out on the other side. I love those guys. I've worked very closely with them on this game for years. There's nothing disrespectful going on at all. We're trying to do what's best for everyone."

Last time we checked, the game was doing rather well, despite middling reviews. THQ announced earlier this month that, to date, it has shipped 2.6 million copies of the game to retail.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • zide #1 12 months ago

    And nothing of value was lost to be honest.

  • Shikasama #2 12 months ago

    Wasn't Homefront a massive commercial success despite everybody thinking it was a bit naff in reviews?

  • Kayin #3 12 months ago

    @Shika - Massive's probably a little too much, but it performed well. They supposedly needed a million sales to break even, they've shipped 2.6 million to stores... so they've probably done well.

    I enjoyed HomeFront fine, it's just that they overpromised and underdelivered. That didn't make it a bad game, though.

  • Xboxfanuk #4 12 months ago

    "The Montreal studio will take over product development and overall creative management for the Homefront franchise. The Montreal studio actively collaborated with Kaos on Homefront."

    Dear UK Government,

    that should have read:

    "The UK studio will take over product development and overall creative management for the Homefront franchise. The Montreal studio actively collaborated with Kaos on Homefront."

  • NHDavid #5 12 months ago

    I play it online all the time...still fun.......

  • Centrifugal #6 12 months ago

    But... Homefront sold very well.

    :s

  • darkos87 #7 12 months ago

    Basically they shut down the Kaos team and merged it with their Montreal team...

  • Innes #8 12 months ago

    who sent dildos to who?

  • God_Octo #9 12 months ago

    I assume this means that the tales about needing a million sales to break even, or Kaos gets closed were for plausible deniability, since it sold double that. The poor folks at Kaos.

  • HyperTails #10 12 months ago

    I really enjoyed Homefront, thought it was a good game. Not perfect, as it had issues, but it had a fun campaign and I loved the MP.

    Thought that this game sold well? Thought that there was a steady stream of DLC coming out (map pack just out for 360, coming soon to PS3), that was both SP and MP?

    That sucks for those people who haven't been moved up to Montreal. Hope they get new jobs soon.

  • CaptainQuint #11 12 months ago

    Feel pretty bad for the staff at Kaos, tbh.

    Ignoring the garbage campaign, Homefront is superb online.

  • Neil_LCFC #12 12 months ago

    Homefront is superb fun online & sold well for a new IP then they still get closed down. The games industry seems more cut throat than ever at the minute.

  • Cronan #13 12 months ago

    The game is truly shite, they did a massive marketing blitz here in the UK which pumped the sales.
    I hope Danny Bilson has saved a dildo for himself.

  • Eraysor #14 12 months ago

    Bit of a shame in my opinion. I actually have a copy of Homefront winging its way to me right now because I was so impressed with the multiplayer demo. Seemed to sit is a nice middle ground between CoD and Battlefield which I really liked.

  • Branoic #15 12 months ago

    "I hear the studio got a box of Saint's Row-branded dildos with a note that read 'Go f*** yourselves.'"

    THQ has subsequently confirmed the news to Gamasutra."

    L.......O.......L

  • asphaltcowboy #16 12 months ago

    Will we get a dildo as bonus content for pre-ordering SR3?

  • coojam #17 12 months ago

    Didn't realise they were the guys that did Frontlines and Desert Combat. Such a shame... Battlefield 2 and modern warfare games in general owe a lot to them!

  • Vortex808 #18 12 months ago

    The multiplayer was great fun, and the people responsible for that should've been kept on.

    SP was just too OTT on the gung-ho ness and cliched 'north koreans are baad m'kay' bits as well as poor on script and length.

  • LazyNinjaUk #19 12 months ago

    Despite the fact I didn't think Homefront was that good, it's still sad to see the people who work hard making the games get the rough end of the stick. I'm sure a lot of the problems with the game were due to overbearing figureheads at THQ.

    Fuck you Bilson, you collossal prick.

  • Raconteur #20 12 months ago

    "THQ announced earlier this month that, to date, it has shipped 2.6 million copies of the game to retail."

    of which 1.4 million were sold, and 1,399,995 were traded within 24 hours.

  • lolercopter #21 12 months ago

    Sad to see another development company go, regardless of Homeland's quality. It looks like there's someone closing doors almost every month now.

  • coolbritannia #22 12 months ago

    Richly deserved. You're only as good as your last game, so Kaos were shit.

  • 32768Colours #23 12 months ago

    I hate the fact that there's an element of gaming that boils down to this: "Make a massive selling mega-hit or you're finished."

  • Haloboy #24 12 months ago

    I really liked Homefront multiplayer as it happens. The same way I liked Frontlines multiplayer before it. Sorry to see Kaos go like that as I think they deserved more credit as a developer than they were ever given. Homefront I was hoping would be a true breakthrough game for them and early indications looked very promising.

    As others have said the campaign was pretty bog standard but online was immense fun once you got the hang of it.

    Oh and coolbritannia, you sir are a twatting shit bag and as such I neg you in the eye socket.

  • aphex187 #25 12 months ago

    Now that is shit news because i thought FFOW was bloody excellent! Homefront tried it's hardest but didn't get quite get there, but props to the devs for being ambitious enough to give it a shot.

  • metalangel #26 12 months ago

    Frontlines was excellent, as is Homefront. Poor Kaos, still, you have one hell of a track record to your name.

    In fact, I played through the Homefront sp campaign again this afternoon, collecting all the newspapers as I went. Some of the battles (the second half of the fourth level, most of the third, and all of the final) are great fun. The multiplayer, meanwhile, is just awesome. It's just a huge, constant battle from the moment it starts, quite possibly my favourite multiplayer FPS since Call of Duty 3.

  • BBIAJ #27 12 months ago

    So, what becomes of the Frontlines: Fuel of War dedicated servers now then, will they remain?

  • BBIAJ #28 12 months ago

    They also closed THQ Digital Warrington today too, surely the closure of a UK based studio also warrants a new story EG?

    http://i.joystiq.com/2011/06/13/thq-shut...

  • jumpdeveraux #29 12 months ago

    Damn.

    Bonusses for dev teams whose game delivers very strong sales these days is seemingly a cardboard box and a security guard to show them to the door.

  • jimr9999us #30 12 months ago

    I need THQ to stick around for 40k. I don't care what they have to burn down to generate heat to keep the engines running. Burn it all down. But keep my 40k coming.

  • BloodSaint #31 12 months ago

    Sad to see people losing jobs, but to be fair both Frontline and Homefront are terrible games...

  • kinky_mong #32 12 months ago

    "I hear the studio got a box of Saint's Row-branded dildos with a note that read 'Go f*** yourselves.'"

    Sour grapes have never been so funny!

  • nuanimal #33 12 months ago

    Kaos made a luke warm game but sold quite well (one million copies), which if Google search is to be believed allowed them to break even.

    This is such a shame for the devs. Wish them well.

  • ToAks #34 11 months ago

    damn, whats happening to the gaming world????

    i hope everyone at kaos will find new jobs soon