A perfectly good day had to go and be ruined by an awful round of news from the world of game development, didn’t it?

It’s been revealed that the New York-based Homefront developer Kaos Studios is shutting down, while UK-based studio THQ Digital Warrington will suffer the same fate.

Describing the move as a “strategic realignment within its internal studio structure,” THQ confirmed the news in a statement that went on to announce that the development of the Homefront franchise will shift to THQ’s studio in Montreal - the studio that “actively collaborated with KAOS on Homefront.”

Despite the closures, THQ is apparently “actively hiring” more developers at its studios in Montreal, Vancouver and Austin.

“THQ’s UK studio and KAOS employees will have the opportunity to interview for open positions with the company globally,” reads the statement.

Following the release of Homefront in March, Kaos and THQ studio Volition were both hit with layoffs, while rumours began to swirl over the possibility that Kaos would essentially be merged with THQ Montreal in order to build on the Homefront franchise.

Homefront itself sold reasonably well after shipping 2.4 million units and selling one million copies during its first week on sale, and taking into consideration that it’s a new intellectual property competing in the most contested genre of videogame at the moment, the military-based first-person shooter, the title’s sales performance is commendable.

The closure of Kaos and the supposed merger with Montreal may be attributed to something as simple as studio running costs, as it may be less expensive to build and run a game development house in Canada, especially with government tax incentives.