MadCatz shares spike as Halo 4 headsets begin to ship

Mad Catz has started shipping a range of licensed Halo 4 gaming headsets under the Tritton brand for the Xbox 360. Each headset, says the company, features themed Halo 4 graphics and bonus downloadable content. Shares of MadCatz Interactive (TSX:MCZ) are up today after yesterday announcing it had begun to ship customized headsets for Halo 4.

MadCatz CEO Darren Richardson commented on the deal: “Halo 4 is one of the most anticipated titles of this holiday season, and we’re pleased to be offering passionate gamers high-quality experience with our range of exclusive, Tritton-licensed Xbox 360 headsets.”

Halo is the multi-billion dollar science fiction video game franchise that was created by Bungie and is now owned by Microsoft Studios. The Halo series, which is now in its fifth incarnation, is generally regarded as the best first-person shooter game ever produced. The franchise has sold more than forty-million copies worldwide, and Halo merchandise has grossed nearly $3 billion. Halo 4 is scheduled to be released on November 6th and is, according to research firm Nielsen, the most anticipated new game of the year.

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Mad Catz, which was founded in 1989 and is now based in San Diego, designs and markets accessories for video game systems. The company has designed products for all major video game platforms, including a deal with Fender to design a Stratocaster guitar controller for Rock Band 3, and Gears of War 3 audio products for the Xbox 360. The company more than doubled its revenue from $87.7-million in 2009 to $183.9-million in fiscal 2011, before taking a step backward in 2012, when sales fell 36% to $117.6-million.

Mad Catz lost $1.7-million on revenue of $21.8 million in Q1, 2013. It will report Q2 results on November 6th.

At press time, shares of Mad Catz were up 15.4% to $.60.

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