Mad Catz will take its next jump into the software publishing business with the announcement that they have secured the rights to publish Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge in North America. While we don’t normally think of North America as place where Rugby is popular, it is puzzling that Mad Catz (who is best known as a peripheral manufacturer) would want to get into publishing a sports title where there is no real connection to their peripheral offerings.

While we know that Mad Catz is serious about wanting to build and grow their software publishing business, it is difficult to see this title being successful for them. The plan is apparently to offer Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge for the Xbox 360 at some point in September, which ironically coincides with the Rugby World Cup that starts in early September.

We will have to see how this plays out.  We can’t say our hopes are high for Mad Catz’s success with this move, but maybe they know something we don’t.