Video game peripheral maker Mad Catz has officially filed for bankruptcy after several months of financial losses, leading to the shutdown of the company.
The news was reported on March 31st by Global News Wire, that the board of directors decided to file for voluntary assignment in bankruptcy in Canada, where the company's parent studio is located. The American branch, responsible for most of the marketing and production of peripherals, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and has ceased operations permanently.
The company was unable to secure alternative funding, according to current CEO Karen McGinnis, leading to the board to vote for bankruptcy to recoup some of the losses incurred.
Mad Catz has been struggling financially for a while now, taking in heavy losses due to the under-performing sales of Harmonix' Rock Band 4. Mad Catz took over the peripheral making for the Rock Band franchise and needed the game to be a hit to help stabilize it's already desperate financial situation.
In February of 2016, Mad Catz laid off 37% of its workforce and began restructuring the company, in hopes to stave off further financial woes, including the resignation of their CEO, Darren Richardson. Mad Catz was also in danger of losing it's place on the New York Stock Exchange as late as January of this year,
Mad Catz has been a peripheral maker since 1989 for the video game marke, and was responsible for the sale of tons of accessories for games this past generation. Numerous products, from third party console controllers, memory cards, cheat devices, and keyboards and mouses have been common sights in game shops and online. Mad Catz was also responsible for the distribution of flight sticks and arcade controllers - mostly used for flight simulators and fighting games - and is the current owner of the GameShark brand of cheat devices, which were popularized in the late 1990s.
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