Mad Catz Interactive Files For Bankruptcy, Ceases Operations

Mad Catz Interactive announced that it filed for bankruptcy, ceased operations at its wholly-owned Mad Catz subsidiary, and saw its board of directors resign on March 30. The company also said that all of its other subsidiaries "have filed or will file for liquidation under comparable legislation in their countries of origin." Assets will be sold off to cover any debts and, once the bankruptcy process is finished, Mad Catz Interactive will be no more.

The news doesn't come as much of a surprise. Mad Catz Interactive announced on March 23 that the New York Stock Exchange decided to delist it and suspend trading of its common stock because of an "abnormally low trading price." It was essentially booted from one of the world's most prominent stock exchanges because investors didn't value the company highly enough to keep its stock price at what the NYSE considers an acceptable level.

Being removed from the NYSE was just the final nail in Mad Catz Interactive's coffin. The company said in today's announcement that it formed a special committee in 2016 to explore other options, such as selling off all or part of its business, to "maximize shareholder value." Selling its Saitek flight simulator peripheral business to Logitech in September 2016 probably helped with that goal, but it clearly wasn't enough to save the company.

Here's what Mad Catz Interactive CEO Karen McGinnis said about the bankruptcy filing in today's announcement:

“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.”

Mad Catz most recently made controllers, mice, keyboards, and other gaming-related peripherals. It was also responsible for the instruments used by Harmonix's Rock Band series until the developer switched to Performance Designed Products in March 2016. (Not that Harmonix, which has reportedly laid off at least 24 people this year, seems any better off.) Mad Catz Interactive was also responsible for the Tritton line of headsets and headphones.

The company didn't say if drivers for its peripherals will remain available for the foreseeable future, or how it plans to notify customers whose products might still be under warranty about its shutdown. The PricewaterhouseCoopers professional services firm has been named the trustee in bankruptcy of the Mad Catz Interactive estate.