Mad Catz delisted themselves from the New York Stock Exchange today and declared that the company is filing for bankruptcy. Pricewaterhouse Coopers has been appointed as trustee of Mad Catz assets during the liquidation process. The news is a disappointment for fans of Mad Catz’ arcade fight sticks that has garnered a dedicated fan base in the competitive fighting game circuit.
The news should not come as too much of a shock. The company has struggled in recent years as they tried to shake off a poor reputation from making low quality third party controllers in the 1990s and early 2000s. Mad Catz attempted to move into the high end gaming accessory market with the purchase of the Saitek brand, the introduction of the RAT line of PC gaming accessories, the release of the arcade style fight sticks, and the company’s partnership with Harmonix for Rock Band peripherals. The writing was on the wall when Mad Catz sold the Saitek brand to Logitech for $13 million USD last year. It looks like the cash infusion was not enough to save Mad Catz.
