Future of Slightly Mad Studios’ Mad Box Console Is “Questionable”

Ambitious Games Console May Never Happen

Several months ago, Slightly Mad Studios announced plans for a powerful new games console to rival the PS4 and Xbox One. The announcement comes directly from CEO Ian Bell himself, who calls the project “Mad Box”.

Bell made many claims, including the fact that it will sport hardware
equivalent to a “very fast PC 2 years from now”.

“It’s the most powerful console ever built… It’s literally ‘Mad’… Want 4k, You want VR at 60FPS? Want a full engine for free to develop your games on it? You have it,” says Bell.

Now in light of Google’s recent Stadia announcement, the Mad Box may never take off at all.

What is Happening to the Mad Box Project?

As Google famously claimed at the Stadia event: “the future of gaming isn’t in a box.”

This was apparently enough to convince several of the investors on Bell’s Mad Box to back out.

“Two investors pulled out after the announcement of Stadia. All I can say at this stage is the future of the project is questionable,” says Bell.

Funding is not the only problem. Apparently, even though Slightly Mad Studios filed the trademark for ‘Mad Box’ with European IP body in January 2019, it was opposed by a French casual games company. They also go by ‘MadBox’ (without a space) and argues that it is confusing to consumers.

After which, Slightly Mad Studios pulled out the trademark application. In fact, the upcoming games console will now have a totally different name. However, whether it will actually see the light of day is the question.