It looks like peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz is no longer content with just making hardware – they're now entering the game development side of the industry. The company has announced the formation of a San Diego-based game studio that will focus on developing a new flight simulation title for as-of-yet-unannounced platforms. Well, at least you know the controller will come properly calibrated for the game.
The company's new development venture has been dubbed ThunderHawk Studios, and while Mad Catz hasn't announced any real specifics on upcoming games, they did state that the group will "focus on developing a series of [massively-multiplayer online] flight simulation games." Who knows, maybe the company is looking to take a crack at the market share of games like "Warhawk."
It's not entirely surprising that Mad Catz would develop a flight simulation game. Besides the fact that the company already manufactures general-use joysticks, Mad Catz also began producing high-end flight simulation systems after purchasing hardware manufacturer Saitek in 2007. I'm not talking about some goofy, taped together setup your uncle built in his basement to play "Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0" back in 1988; these are full-fledged simulation systems with all kinds of dials, knobs, and – OK, I have no idea what any of that stuff does.
"The formation of ThunderHawk Studios is an important milestone as we pursue our longer term goal of expanding our participation in developing, publishing, and distributing games," said Mad Catz president and CEO, Darren Richardson, via press release.
There's no way of telling exactly what ThunderHawk's new game will play like, but it's still interesting to see a hardware manufacturer – especially Mad Catz, who have at times attempted to undercut the first-party manufacturers – starting to produce their own games. I'm assuming we'll hear more about this at E3 next week.