Mad Catz Back From the Dead With New Gaming Peripherals

LAS VEGAS—A little under a year ago, Mad Catz died. The gaming accessory company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and stopped all operations in March 2022, and since and so it's appeared to the world as a expressionless brand.

That changed in the lead-upward to CES 2022, when a PR company started teasing the return of a large proper name in gaming. Well-nigh of the net quickly deduced that it was Mad Catz, and now we can witness the power of a fully armed and operational peripheral visitor.

CES 2022 bug art I met with Mad Catz here and got a look at its new line of gaming peripherals, including new R.A.T. mice, Due south.T.R.I.Yard.E., keyboards, and F.R.E.Q. headsets. They're familiar names and familiar designs to anyone who'south used Mad Catz products in the past, just with some notable improvements. These aren't just rebadged pre-defalcation Mad Catz peripherals, but completely refreshed product lines.

Mad Catz Mice

For mice, Mad Catz showed off a line of viii different models, starting with the flagship R.A.T. Air. It's the just wireless gaming mouse in the lineup, but information technology doesn't use a bombardment. Instead, the mouse receives power from the included mouse pad, which drives the mouse through induction. It'southward similar to Razer'due south recently announced Mamba + Firefly mouse and pad combination, which also uses induction ability to go on the mouse going without wires or a bombardment. The R.A.T. Air as well features RGB lighting on the mouse pad, and a detachable cable for using the mouse without the pad in a wired configuration.

The R.A.T. Pro S3 and R.A.T. Pro X3 take the office of high-cease wired gaming mice from Mad Catz, with customization options like to the older R.A.T. 7 mouse. The S3 features an adjustable palm rest, while the X3 lets you switch out and adjust the placement of several unlike ergonomic components like the thumb rest and palm rest. The X3 also features a removable sensor module, which can exist replaced or upgraded in the future. Both mice feature customizable RGB lighting.

The other R.A.T. mouse models are the 1+, 2+, 4+, six+, and 8+, which represent various tiers of price and features.

Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. keyboard

For gaming audio, Mad Catz unveiled a very interesting take on the gaming headset. The E.S. Pro+ is a set of in-culvert wired earphones with a unique feature: a removable boom microphone. Instead of relying on a pinhole microphone in an inline remote or mounted on the earphone casing, the Due east.Due south. Pro+ has its own boom that works simply like the nail mics on on-ear and over-ear gaming headsets.

Mad Catz showed off two more than conventional over-ear gaming headsets, the F.R.E.Q. 2 and F.R.Eastward.Q. four. They're respectively wired and wireless headsets designed for utilize with a PC and feature customizable RGB lighting.

The company also showed off two new keyboards. While they both have pronounced, full-size keycaps and RGB lighting, the S.T.R.I.G.E. two uses membrane switches while the Southward.T.R.I.Thou.E. 4 uses Cherry MX Chocolate-brown mechanical keyswitches. Both are wired.

Finally, Mad Catz has a line of mouse pads (or, if you prefer, gaming surfaces). The G.L.I.D.E. line consists generally of fabric-and-foam mouse pads that measure 16, 19, 21, or 38 inches across, and are fairly nondescript. Even so, the Thousand.L.I.D.East. Chameleon adds some flair with a base that incorporates, once once again, customizable RGB lighting.

Mad Catz has not announced pricing or availability for its new products still, only it plans to come across them hit stores this summer.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.