Andre Yoskowitz
9 Mar 2014 23:20
Ouya, the Android-based hardware console that nearly reached $10 million in funding on Kickstarter, is already dead in less than a year of availability, says the Verge.
The indie game console took Kickstarter by storm in 2012, raising $8.6 million, promising TV gaming for $99 and a plethora of games, all of which were free-to-play. The company was run by CEO Julie Uhrman, a former VP of digital distribution for both IGN and GameFly, very experienced in the gaming world. Uhrman wanted the Ouya to curate and promote games, and even possibly fund indies.
Unfortunately, the box launched late, the plans to fund indies fell through, and the console launched only a few months ahead of the PS4 and Xbox One.
Ouya, having failed as a hardware console, will now be transitioning to a software platform, effectively killing its hardware business. The company will look to embed the platform into TVs and set-top boxes, starting with the Mad Catz Mojo, which was formerly its own hardware console.
By killing off its hardware, Ouya has turned itself into another Android variant, one that has even less users than others. There are no incentives to build for Ouya, especially when standard Android and iOS have over 1.2 billion users and the PlayStation 4 continues to be a smash hit.