Beamer wrote on Jul 8, 2012, 12:57:
KAOS was based in Manhattan. They were isolated from the rest of THQ, especially the main office THQ was trying to build, and their occupancy costs were far, far above industry average.
This is the primary reason they were closed. Homeland's sales made THQ plenty of money, but the studio wasn't well structured and cost a small fortune to run. THQ wanted any reason to shut it down, move the talent to a better location, and ditch the poor structure.
Exactly. Reading the article it's clear that there the management structure was fundamentally lacking, even more so when the main manager left at the end. It wasn't a viable studio. As for the occupancy costs, it's just bizarre that you'd base a studio in such an expensive city when - unlike most other industries - there isn't any advantage to doing so and a major financial disadvantage. THQ just can't justify such a venture given their vulnerability in the market place.
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."