Mad Catz in a world of danger thanks to Harmonix

According to a recent report on Eurogamer, gaming peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz is in serious trouble after they bet the farm on helping Harmonix bring Rock Band 4 to life.

Apparently Mad Catz recorded a $11.6 million loss for the past year. That’s brutal, and there’s no one to blame but Harmonix. Like many other critics, I complained that Rock Band 4 was rushed to the market knowing incomplete and Harmonix figured the brand’s loyalty would allow them time to fix their broken product over time without impacting sales. However, releasing a game that is functionally broken out of the gate is a terrible business practice and probably explains why so many people fled Harmonix like rats from a sinking ship.

Rock Band 4 released as a broken, clunky mess, and not only was it gutted – missing many of the features Rock Band 3 released with – but the game would literally crash after finishing a song. It also failed to save high scores, and it had no sort of online multiplayer options at all. To put it lightly, it was the full release console equivalent to Steam Early Access, and it’s still not up to par with what Rock Band should be.

It’s a shame, cause I’ve always been a huge fan of Harmonix but as of late it’s like they’re phoning in everything they do. I paid to help Kickstart their Amplitude reboot, which is sadly cold and full of generic and forgettable Harmonix originals that can’t even begin to compare to some of the catchy tunes found in the original. But that’s a story for another time.

Mad Catz is basically screwed at this point. They have until September to sell off the rest of their $8.3 million in Rock Band 4 hardware stock because that’s when their distribution license expires. I guess this means we’ll be seeing extreme discounts on Rock Band 4 peripherals in the near future, but there’s very little reason to jump on the bandwagon now since Rock Band 4 is still a pile of steaming dog shit.

Godspeed, Mad Catz. Just stick to the overpriced but awesome arcade fight sticks and quit wasting your time on studios that stopped caring about the quality of their products.

► Eurogamer

Jonathan White

Big-headed Blogger with a press pass. Jonathan is a former KnowTechie contributor.