Retro peripheral manufacturer Hyperkin has apologised for a “lack of transparency” and “failing to communicate” with its customers.
The company has had a series of fumbles in recent years, with a tendency to announce new products too early. Last year it announced a handheld Mega Drive device but has since gone quiet, while back in January it revealed PS5-style controllers compatible with Xbox and PC but without a release date.
Also in January, Hyperkin revealed its new Hyper Strummer guitar controller for the Wii, but customers accused the company of simply reusing unsold stock of its Wii guitars. The company refuted the accusations and is set to release an equivalent controller for PC and PS3.
Now the company has issued an apology in a bid to rebuild trust with its customers.
“The Hyperkin team has taken time to reflect on our values as a company,” a statement on social media reads.
“We have overpromised and under-delivered. We failed to properly communicate and let down countless fans in the community with our lack of transparency.”
It continued: “Our previously announced guitars are examples of us failing to communicate. There are no excuses and we take full responsibility for these mistakes. Trust is earned, not given, and we recognise that we have a lot of work to do to earn yours back with our modern guitar controller that is still being worked on.”
Hyperkin promised to “break the habit”, acknowledging its past administration was “eager to announce projects still early in development”, which will no longer be the case with the new team the company is building.
As such it’s focused on three areas: improved transparency in communication, “consistent connection” to keep customers informed, and “uncompromising quality” as it meets its goal to “deliver hardware that exceeds expectations”.
“For every victory there will be an announcement,” it concluded. “For every shortcoming there will be a statement. Thank you to our fans, supporters and multiple communities that have put up with our missteps. We don’t want to fail you again.”