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Mad Catz files for bankruptcy, company is shutting down

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
This follows Harmonix, their partner on Rock Band 4, also going through their fourth round of layoffs in five years.

Mad Catz® Makes Voluntary Assignment in Bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada)
March 31, 2017 07:30 ET | Source: Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.

SAN DIEGO, March 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (the ”Company") (OTC Pink:MCZAF) announced that, with the authorization and approval of its Board of Directors, it and its subsidiary, 1328158 Ontario Inc., made a voluntary assignment in bankruptcy on March 30, 2017, pursuant to the provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). Pursuant to the assignment in bankruptcy, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. (”PWC") has been appointed as the trustee in bankruptcy of the Company's estate. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Mad Catz, Inc., ceased operations and also has filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to initiate an orderly liquidation of the assets of the Company. In addition, certain of the Company's other subsidiaries have filed or will file for liquidation under comparable legislation in their countries of origin.

The Company also announced that all of the directors and officers of the Company have resigned effective as March 30, 2017.


As previously disclosed, the Company's Board of Directors formed a special committee in 2016 to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives intended to maximize shareholder value, including a sale of the Company. The Company hired a financial advisor in connection with evaluating and pursuing strategic alternatives. The Company has been consistently pursuing its operational plan with the aim of increasing revenue and improving working capital.

The Board of Directors made the decision to have the Company make a voluntary assignment in bankruptcy after considering various strategic alternatives, the interest of various stakeholders of the Company as well as a number of other factors. The Board of Directors has been advised by the Company's financial advisor and management that no viable strategic alternative in respect of a sale of the Company or other corporate sale transaction is being made available to the Company by any third party. In addition, the Board of Directors has also been advised that the Company's lenders will not increase the amount of its credit facilities beyond the current levels.

Karen McGinnis, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated that, ”Regrettably and notwithstanding that for a significant amount of time the Company has been actively pursuing its strategic alternatives, including various near term financing alternatives such as bank financing and equity infusions, as well as potential sales of certain assets of the Company or a sale of the Company in its entirety, the Company has been unable to find a satisfactory solution to its cash liquidity problems. The Board of Directors and management would like to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of the Company's employees in support of its business, especially during the time that the Company faced financial difficulties. The Company would also like to thank the vendors and professional service providers who have supported the Company's efforts during this time."

Inquiries concerning the filings and proceedings should be directed to the attention of Fergal J. Rogers of PWC at the contact information noted below.
Source: https://globenewswire.com/news-rele...the-Bankruptcy-and-Insolvency-Act-Canada.html
 

Gaminar

Banned
Hope people can move on and get new jobs. In the meantime... hold my shitty P2 controller bro. MadCatz had ok sticks but controllers were horrible to average quality.
 
Goddamn. End of an era. They really bounced back after going in hard on fight sticks, but it looks like Rock Band 4 did them in.

Also MarkMan looks like a fuckin visionary now
 

Sephzilla

Member
I have a MadCatz fightstick from them I actually like. Hopefully the people can bounce back and find new jobs.

Over the course of MadCatz's history it seems like their product quality was all over the map
 
Damn I've bought their products since I was a kid but this was going to happen. I remember the Game Boy Color plug in light I bought from them
 

Lothars

Member
Aww that's sad, not totally unexpected but I will miss them since I loved their arcade sticks. I hope the employees are able to find jobs quickly.
 

Peltz

Member
Damn that's terrible.

They really turned it around in offering cool stuff last gen compared to previous generations. I'm sorry to see that didn't translate to longterm success.
 
Their controllers may have been pretty ass in the past but their Arcade Sticks, especially the TE line have always been pretty beast. I hope they all land on their feet.
 

Ban Puncher

Member
9G0Nz.jpg



RIP
 

DrArchon

Member
Shouldn't have bet on plastic instruments. It's a shame because they put out some quality products in recent years, but it's their own fault in the end.

Oh well. I'll remember them most for making my first Playstation 1 memory card (which ended up not working at all and taught me a valuable lesson about buying off-brand peripherals).
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
It's a shame to see them go, as I did like their arcade sticks (though the quality of the TE2+ & TES+ PCBs were a bit iffy).

Hopefully those who will be impacted by this manage to land other jobs, soon.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Wow, that's crazy to even think about -- Mad Catz has been around so long. Obviously, their arcade sticks around 2009-on were where the company finally started moving in the right direction, but it's a shame they couldn't maintain that kind of quality across the board.
 
Brother just bought one of their fight sticks and loves it, even bought some custom faceplate for it and shit. That really sucks for them
 

mnannola

Member
Crazy that for so long people always bought third party controllers, even though they were crap. Then it seems starting the 360, PS3 generation that just fell off a cliff.

Not sure for the reasons, maybe because more people moved to online play instead of split screen?
 
Their controllers may have been ugly x "shitty" but for a kid growing up with not much cash x wanting to play with friends it was a good cheap alternative
How I played PlayStation x dreamcast at friends homes lol
RIP
 

BiggNife

Member
Kind of a shame. They had a period of five years or so where they were actually releasing quality stuff, particularly their arcade sticks. Ah well. RIP.

My one worry is that Hori will start overpricing all of their stuff now that their main competition is gone. Having competition in the arcade stick space was a net win for everybody because prices were lower than they ever were in the past.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Crazy that for so long people always bought third party controllers, even though they were crap. Then it seems starting the 360, PS3 generation that just fell off a cliff.

Not sure for the reasons, maybe because more people moved to online play instead of split screen?
Their arcade sticks were generally on-point (with a few recent exceptions), but I feel like them betting on Rock Band 4 was what ended Mad Catz.
 

rrs

Member
game over man, game over
Crazy that for so long people always bought third party controllers, even though they were crap. Then it seems starting the 360, PS3 generation that just fell off a cliff.

Not sure for the reasons, maybe because more people moved to online play instead of split screen?
native wireless, and that the controllers were all but perfected
 

Aaron D.

Member
Didn't they have a complete turnaround in product quality over the past few years?

I guess that "cheap knockoff" rep is hard to shake.
 

tsundoku

Member
Hope people can move on and get new jobs. In the meantime... hold my shitty P2 controller bro. MadCatz had ok sticks but controllers were horrible to average quality.

MadCatz sticks were never good, it was the xsplit conundrum, where the product that has to scream the loudest and shove the most advertising dollars down every twitch streamer's throat is "low-key" worse then its competitor
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Kind of a shame. They had a period of five years or so where they were actually releasing quality stuff, particularly their arcade sticks. Ah well. RIP.

My one worry is that Hori will start overpricing all of their stuff now that their main competition is gone. Having competition in the arcade stick space was a net win for everybody because prices were lower than they ever were in the past.
While the loss of Mad Catz is a major blow to the arcade stick market, there's still Qanba & Razer (who's stepped up their game as of late & is now a sponsor of the Capcom Pro Tour).

Didn't they have a complete turnaround in product quality over the past few years?

I guess that "cheap knockoff" rep is hard to shake.
They did, yeah.
 

Kysen

Member
I spent £230 importing a Xrd stick for ps4, the very next revision they added the touch pad :( Guess I wont be able to buy another as they will be gone.
 

Kthulhu

Member
RIP. I hope everyone there lands on their feet.

Their arcade sticks were generally on-point (with a few recent exceptions), but I feel like them betting on Rock Band 4 was what ended Mad Catz.

Something tells me they wouldn't have lasted much longer regardless.
 
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