Mad Catz starts shipping revised Rat range

Mad Catz, reborn after entering bankruptcy proceedings in March 2017, has announced it is finally bringing back the R.A.T. mouse range - hereafter written as the far-less-pretentious Rat - after promising to do so back in January.

Once a major player in the gaming peripherals market, Mad Catz hit financial trouble starting with a decision to break its contract to make Guitar Hero peripherals in 2010 and an unsuccessful attempt to break into the microconsole market in 2013. Attempts to stave of the inevitable followed, including the resignation of its executive team and the sale of its Saitek division to Logitech, but eventually it ran out of runway: The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in March 2017 and filed for voluntary bankruptcy later that month. Following the bankruptcy sale, though, its name and assets were picked up, dusted off, and relaunched, and now its new owners are ready to bring back the Rat mouse line.

'Since announcing our comeback earlier in the year, gamers have inundated us with requests for new Rat mice, and the passion and enthusiasm we’ve encountered from the community is truly inspiring. We've been working hard to ensure the new products do justice to the incredible Mad Catz legacy and we're delighted to start shipping the first products in the new range,' claims Selena Chang, director of sales and operations for the new Mad Catz Global Limited. 'The Rat range continues to be a beacon of innovation and we're confident gamers will be thrilled with the new mice, which we believe offer superb value and unsurpassed quality for all budgets and gaming abilities.'

The relaunched range includes: The Rat 4+, which includes Omron switches, multi-zone LED backlighting, and a Pixart PMW 3330 optical sensor; the Rat 6+, with enhanced customisation options across nine buttons, an adjustable palm rest, removable weights, 'Chameleon RGB Intelligent Lighting', and higher-end Omron switches; the Rat 8+, 'designed for the professional gamer' with a Pixart PMW 3389 optical sensor, adjustable palm and thumb rests, removable pinkie grip, 18g of removable weights, three-stage Chameleon lighting, and onboard memory for profile saving; and the Rat Pro S3, a lightweight mouse with a Pixart PMW 3330 sensor, adjustable palm rest, and Chameleon RGB lighting.

The new Rat family is launching first in Germany, Austria, and France, Mad Catz has confirmed, with UK and the rest of Europe, North America, 'and beyond' to follow in the near future. UK pricing has yet to be confirmed, with more information available on the official website.