Mad Catz axes 37% of staff after Q3 profits are less than favourable
Mad Catz today announced company-wide layoffs in a bid to reinvigorate its business, after reporting its Q3 financial results yesterday.
Over 37 percent of staff at the company have lost their jobs as the company attempts to restructure in the wake of its financial results for Q3 which showed that profits had fallen by 10 percent. The news comes after the resignations of the CEO Darren Richardson, chairman Thomas Brown and senior VP of business affairs Whitney Peterson on Monday.
Because of the cuts in staff, the company say that they will saye $5 million dollars per year at the beginning of their next fiscal period, commencing on April 1. Gamasutra reports that profits at the company have fallen despite a 110 percent increase in sales year-on-year for Q3. Mad Catz also reported an sharp increase in the sales of “speciality controllers”, no doubt down to the release of Rock Band 4 in October last year. The company partnered with Harmonix to be the provider of the game’s official peripherals.
“… Rock Band sell-through was lower than originally forecast resulting in higher inventory balances as well as lower margins due to increased promotional activity with retailers,” president and CEO Karen McGinnis said in a statement alongside its results. The company also experienced low demand for its audio and PC products, and decreasing sales in European and Asian regions.
