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Accessory Maker Mad Catz Files For Bankruptcy

Mad Catz had been struggling in recent years.

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In disappointing but not surprising news, Mad Catz Interactive announced today that it has filed for bankruptcy.

Mad Catz Interactive is the parent company of video game accessory maker Mad Catz and audio company Tritton. It voluntarily filed for bankruptcy yesterday, March 30, with its directors and officers also resigning.

Its subsidiary Mad Catz, Inc.--which you know as the company responsible for producing controllers, keyboards, mice, and other video game accessories--has now ceased operations and filed for chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, which will see its assets liquidated. The fate of Tritton was not outlined in a press release announcing the news, but additional Mad Catz Interactive subsidiaries are expected to be liquidated.

Mad Catz has had a rough few years. In 2015, it warned of "substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue" due to uncertainty around the performance of Rock Band 4, which it made a big gamble on. Early last year, it experienced a major shakeup of its management team and cut a large portion of its workforce as part of a restructuring effort intended to keep the company afloat.

Shortly thereafter, Harmonix announced that it would partner with competing accessory maker PDP for future Rock Band 4 hardware. Mad Catz CFO Karen McGinnis later said, "Although the overall Rock Band 4 program was incredibly disappointing for us, exiting the relationship with Harmonix at this time allows us to focus our efforts on the development and execution of our other exciting and profitable product launches."

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In January, the low share price of Mad Catz put the company at risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. After the situation only got worse in the ensuing months and Mad Catz presented no viable proposal for turning things around, the delisting process began last week.

Mad Catz had formed a committee last year to explore ways of maximizing shareholder value, ultimately leading to today's news. It considered selling off assets, among other options, but the panel could not find a way to sufficiently resolve the company's financial situation.

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