Mad Catz Terminates GameShark Tech Licensing Commitment

Mad Catz, a manufacturer of third-party video game peripherals, has announced an early termination of its minimum purchase commitment to Fire, the current developers of the technology behind the GameShark cheat code device, apparently due to relative lack of demand for the device. Under the terms of the deal, Mad Catz was obligated to buy $5 million worth of product from Fire each financial year, but declining sales of the GameShark product, which allows gamers to enter cheat codes and otherwise change in-game variables, led Mad Catz to seek a way out of the minimum purchase commitment. The partnership concluded with a $2 million cash payment from Mad Catz to Fire, ending the company's minimum purchase commitment, but the company will still continue to stock and market the GameShark. Mad Catz continues to sell console and iPod accessories, and has recently diversified into publishing peripherals bundled with console software, with titles including Pump It Up: Exceed and Real World Golf. As Mad Catz president Darren Richardson explained: "The GameShark acquisition has been a strategic success for Mad Catz, providing an important entrance into software publishing while serving to further diversify our revenue sources. By eliminating the minimum purchase requirements we maintain access to Fire's intellectual property and technology development on a non-exclusive basis while eliminating the uncertainty inherent in a currently declining market."