OUYA Software Assets Acquired by Razer

Conrad Zimmerman

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OUYA Software Assets Acquired by Razer

Portion of Android console maker purchased to bolster Cortex platform.

Hardware maker Razer has confirmed that it has acquired software assets previously owned by OUYA, manufacturer of the ill-fated Android microconsole of same name. In a deal which closed on June 12 of this year, Razer purchased OUYA's catalog of content and its digital storefront for an undisclosed sum. Along with the acquisition, members of the OUYA technical and developer relations teams have transitioned into Razer's software division.

In a press release issued today, Razer co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan praised the efforts of the OUYA software team his company has purchased. "OUYA's work with game developers, both triple A and indies, went a long way in bringing Android games to the living room and Razer intends to further that work. This acquisition is envisaged to usher more developers and content to the Android TV platform."

The OUYA digital storefront will be rebranded as Cortex for Android TV, though Razer has stated that they will publish some games and content under the OUYA moniker.

Despite a record-setting Kickstarter campaign, OUYA struggled to find an audience following its retail release in 2013, with initial reviews being critical of the console's processing capability and controller design. A $10 million injection of capital by Chinese retail giant Alibaba at the beginning of the year failed to reverse the company's fortunes and rumors began to circulate in April that OUYA was looking for a buyer.

Razer did not acquire the hardware bits of OUYA's business, though it has expressed plans to integrate its current user base in the future. OUYA users will be able to migrate their existing controllers, games, and user accounts to the Forge TV microconsole, and Razer will be offering them special pricing on new hardware to make the transition.

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AzrealMaximillion

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They probably got paid enough to cover whatever debt the OUYA drew up. I remember how talked up it was when it was first brought up.
 

kat-pottz

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well if you think of ouya past its hardware it really was not that bad so it makes sense to a certain degree. what I keep getting confused by is why all these companies continue to associate their gaming devices with tv's? I'm sure that as evidenced by ouya its pretty freakin hard to go up against the big three but wouldn't cramming gaming software into a product meant to play tv just add up to poor games? Has NOBODY remembered the failure of the cdi!? (granted that was a cd player with games tacked on but you get my point)
 

Gearhead mk2

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To be completely honest I had forgotten the OUYA existed until I saw this headline. And I thought Razer made specialised peripherals and controllers. Why would they but the code of a console?
 

Conrad Zimmerman

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Gearhead mk2 said:
To be completely honest I had forgotten the OUYA existed until I saw this headline. And I thought Razer made specialised peripherals and controllers. Why would they but the code of a console?
Razer isn't just a peripheral manufacturer. They've been working on handheld formats for years now, like the Switch Blade and the Edge, and the Forge TV console was announced back in January.
 

MonsterCrit

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kat-pottz said:
well if you think of ouya past its hardware it really was not that bad so it makes sense to a certain degree. what I keep getting confused by is why all these companies continue to associate their gaming devices with tv's? I'm sure that as evidenced by ouya its pretty freakin hard to go up against the big three but wouldn't cramming gaming software into a product meant to play tv just add up to poor games? Has NOBODY remembered the failure of the cdi!? (granted that was a cd player with games tacked on but you get my point)
cdi failed because it was never really designed as a video game system. It was a video player that they tricked into playing video games. And the games show that. True story though. It's because of the CDi that we have the Playstation. Sony and Nintebndo were originally working together to make a cd platform for the next nes console and poart of the deal involvbed licensing the production of Nintendo franchises.

Long story short. Nintendo back track late in development leaving Sony Holding the bag, they then made a deal with phillips allowing them to produce stuff for their cd-i. Sony was pissed and said.. screw it, we're almost done any way. Let's just finish this.

And well... yeah.
 

kat-pottz

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MonsterCrit said:
kat-pottz said:
well if you think of ouya past its hardware it really was not that bad so it makes sense to a certain degree. what I keep getting confused by is why all these companies continue to associate their gaming devices with tv's? I'm sure that as evidenced by ouya its pretty freakin hard to go up against the big three but wouldn't cramming gaming software into a product meant to play tv just add up to poor games? Has NOBODY remembered the failure of the cdi!? (granted that was a cd player with games tacked on but you get my point)
cdi failed because it was never really designed as a video game system. It was a video player that they tricked into playing video games. And the games show that. True story though. It's because of the CDi that we have the Playstation. Sony and Nintebndo were originally working together to make a cd platform for the next nes console and poart of the deal involvbed licensing the production of Nintendo franchises.

Long story short. Nintendo back track late in development leaving Sony Holding the bag, they then made a deal with phillips allowing them to produce stuff for their cd-i. Sony was pissed and said.. screw it, we're almost done any way. Let's just finish this.

And well... yeah.
I guess a more apt example would be the FireTV.