Mad Catz shuts down, files for chapter 7 bankruptcy

[Shawn Knight]

It’s the end of the road for Mad Catz Interactive as the gaming peripheral maker has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy after betting the house on Rock Band 4.

As per the filing, all of Mad Catz’s directors and officers have resigned. The company will be liquidating all of its assets with proceeds from the sales going directly to its lenders. Subsidiaries such as audio company Tritton are also expected to shut down and liquidate their assets.

The bankruptcy news isn’t entirely surprising if you’ve kept tabs on the company as of late.

As Polygon recounts, Mad Catz CEO Darren Richardson and Chairman Thomas Brown both stepped down in February 2016 ahead of a corporate restructuring that saw the company shed 37 percent of its workforce.

In September, Mad Catz sold its Saitek brand and line of space, flight and farm simulation controllers to Logitech for $13 million in cash. This past January, the company received word that it was at risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and last week, the exchange made good on that promise due to the “abnormally low” trading price of its common stock.

Mad Catz was founded in 1989 and produced a wide range of gaming accessories and controllers over the years.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/68756-mad-catz-shuts-down-files-chapter-7-bankruptcy.html

 

[oldikes]

Im a bit confused how madcatz managed this, all they had to do was pump out cheap controllers for current gen consoles.

 

[MoeJoe]

There is a transformational recession in effect ... and has been in effect for nearly 20 years.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Well yeah, when was the last time you saw a madcatz controller? They were all the rage in the PS1/PS2 era, but midway through the PS3 era they kinda...dissipated. Did they even make PS4 controllers?

I mean, I guess "company that didnt make products goes bankrupt" didnt sound as good, but it seems madcatz gave up the ghost years ago.

 

[MoeJoe]

Well yeah, when was the last time you saw a madcatz controller? They were all the rage in the PS1/PS2 era, but midway through the PS3 era they kinda...dissipated. Did they even make PS4 controllers?

I mean, I guess "company that didnt make products goes bankrupt" didnt sound as good, but it seems madcatz gave up the ghost years ago.

Frys stores stocked quite a bit of Madcatz stuff in recent months.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

The sole reason for this mess can only be put down to mismanagement and ineptness on their part. A pity really, they made some decent stuff. I remember owning one of their mice, the R.A.T. 3 I think it was and I was pretty happy with it, it saw some good service but it was expensive for just a mouse and that was the time I was into games so I coughed up. No regrets.

 

[robb213]

Well yeah, when was the last time you saw a madcatz controller? They were all the rage in the PS1/PS2 era, but midway through the PS3 era they kinda...dissipated. Did they even make PS4 controllers?

I mean, I guess "company that didnt make products goes bankrupt" didnt sound as good, but it seems madcatz gave up the ghost years ago.

I only saw them back in the PS1/N64 days when Blockbuster was still a thing. And even then my brother and I avoided them like the plague.

I'm actually amazed they've managed to stay in business for this long...

 

[Tekkaraiden]

That's unfortunate, I really enjoyed there Fightsticks and Fightpads for the 360/Ps3.

 

[Vrmithrax]

This doesn't surprise me at all - every recent Mad Catz product that I've used has had real quality issues or performance problems. The last straw that made me swear off the brand completely was the R.A.T. M that I bought for my 2-in-1. Bought it to (hopefully) have a decent mouse without needing to have a bulky USB dongle sticking out of my slim little convertible notebook. The Bluetooth support was absolutely horrid - never connected, or when it did it jerked around and then dropped, back to never connecting. No problem with 3 other Bluetooth mice I had, decided to return it. Then I stumbled upon a whole slew of similar complaints, going back years. If you've had multiple years to fix a problem and are still churning out the same broken crap, chapter 7 is probably inevitable eventually.

 

[Uncle Al]

When you roll the dice, somebody is going to loose .... better to stay small and solvent than go for the big money and lose it all .....

 

[Reehahs]

There is no point for 3rd party controllers if people prefer the official ones over them. If they made their controllers as good as the official ones if not better, they would not be bankrupt.

 

[oldikes]

There is no point for 3rd party controllers if people prefer the official ones over them. If they made their controllers as good as the official ones if not better, they would not be bankrupt.

dunno, if they flooded the market with $20 xbox one controllers, I know alot of people who woulda picked up 3 just to have for the occaisional split screen.

 

[Reehahs]

dunno, if they flooded the market with $20 xbox one controllers, I know alot of people who woulda picked up 3 just to have for the occaisional split screen.

They might or they might save up to afford the proper controllers to avoid embarrassment. It gets old watching family/friends fight over a good controller. Not only that, these ones end up breaking much faster so over the life time of the official ones you could probably go through 3 of them at least.

 

[mbrowne5061]

dunno, if they flooded the market with $20 xbox one controllers, I know alot of people who woulda picked up 3 just to have for the occaisional split screen.

They might or they might save up to afford the proper controllers to avoid embarrassment. It gets old watching family/friends fight over a good controller. Not only that, these ones end up breaking much faster so over the life time of the official ones you could probably go through 3 of them at least.

Same. I would rather buy 1 additional official controller, and let them fight over turn order. Listening to people whine about, or blame, their controller just because it is third party gets really old, really quick.

 

[lipe123]

I had one of ther RAT mouse units and that piece of **** only worked for 3months and then the cursor stopped moving completely.
It was pretty nice while it worked but reading online it's very common and their support sucked.

They brought this on themselves.

 

[toooooot]

dunno, if they flooded the market with $20 xbox one controllers, I know alot of people who woulda picked up 3 just to have for the occaisional split screen.

They might or they might save up to afford the proper controllers to avoid embarrassment. It gets old watching family/friends fight over a good controller. Not only that, these ones end up breaking much faster so over the life time of the official ones you could probably go through 3 of them at least.

I have like 3 nieces and 3 nephews, and whenever we play, I divide 3 controllers and keyboard between them. And if one of them misbehaves, he or she gets the worst controller. I am not gonna buy anymore controllers because I don't there is a need for it. Embarrassment? Entertainment!