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Two weeks ago, a mysterious teaser hit the web claiming that a certain peripheral maker was ‘back in the game'. At the time, we assumed that this had meant that Mad Catz had managed to claw its way back from bankruptcy and now it seems that those assumptions were indeed correct, with the peripheral maker making its return public today.
Less than a year after the company went dark following a string of financial hits, Mad Catz returns today under new management. Mad Catz is of course best known for its range of R.A.T gaming mice, arcade FightSticks and other peripherals. At CES next week, the company will begin officially showing off its new range, which will include new mice, keyboards, headsets and mouse mats.
So how did Mad Catz manage to swing back? Well after last year's bankruptcy filing, investors in China stepped in to keep the brand alive. These investors were people who worked at Mad Catz' China-based factories over the years, so it seems that there was a lot of passion to keep things going.
At CES next week, Mad Catz will be showing off a couple of key new peripherals for 2018. The first is the R.A.T AIR mouse, which is a new, fully adjustable wireless gaming mouse. It won't require USB or dock charging either, as it will come with a near field charging system, so the mouse will constantly be juiced up just by sitting on the ‘wireless activation gaming surface'. A USB cable will be included for those who prefer wired mice, you can also use the cable to charge the mouse if you would rather use your own mouse mat.
The second big launch heading out way is the S.T.R.I.K.E 4 keyboard, which is fully mechanical, comes in an aluminum frame and features RGB lighting. Finally, Mad Catz is also coming out with the F.R.E.Q.4 headset. Further details are going to be announced soon, likely at CES next week.
Speaking about the return, Mad Catz' Selena Chang explained that the company firmly believes that its “best days lie ahead”. We are looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
KitGuru Says: It was a sad day when Mad Catz filed for bankruptcy but it looks like the peripheral maker has found its second life. We'll be looking forward to checking out the new Mad Catz gear over the course of the year!
I worked at a used game store for several years. Mad Catz was one of two brands we would not accept because when they went bad (which was often) they would /burn out controller ports/. It was not a sad day when Mad Catz filed for bankruptcy, it was just deserts.
Honestly the market is so saturated with gaming peripherals that i cannot fathom why would they even come back from the dead.
Within 28 months, I had 4 computer mice, R.A.T 5, and all finished broken – I do not recommend their products
Mad Catz downfall was the quality issue, thats why the Saitek brand was even worse under Mad catz.. the stuff they made all looked sick, and they where really good to use as well,until they broke, and boy they broken a lot, sadly… they asked a premium price like logitech, but the components or the way they where buildt internally was sub par….
Had no problems with the rat mice still love my mom 7
Their arcade sticks are pretty solid, though. Have a Mad Cats SFxTekken stick and it’s still going strong; haven’t even replaced any of the buttons yet.
My now 5 year old R.A.T 7 still works like a charm.
maybe I am an unlucky bastard or products of inferior quality go to the Eastern European market
Well I’m from Estonia.
If their QC hasn’t improved, and market interest isn’t sustained after their initial relaunch, then they will fail just like they did before. I give it… 18 months; place your bets boys & girls..
Eh, I’m not saying all their peripherals are junk, I’m just saying the brand name as a whole used to be past unreliable and into risky.
5 out of 6 players insist that Russian Roulette is a perfectly safe sport.
Was this specific to a type of controller? Like only with gamepads?
Also, I find it funny that people hate Mad Catz this much and yet so many people still throw their money at Razer. Now that’s a brand that’s all flash and no quality control.
We had the issue with several different specific controllers, though these were console peripherals. We never really dealt with Razer. But once we had a couple of incidents of consoles being bricked by a particular brand of controller, we would stop taking chances on them.
Their control pads had a two week tops life span in the olden days