Remember the Ouya, the famously successful Android-based games console? The Kickstarter phenomenon is officially no more following acquisition by peripheral maker Razer and the departure of founder Julie Uhrman.
Financial details of the acquisition are not available, but the deal covers the "software assets" of the company-- a term covering the Ouya content catalog and online retail platform, as well as technical and developer relation teams.
“Razer has a long-term vision for Android TV and Android-based TV consoles, such as the Xiaomi Mi Box and Alibaba Tmall Box, to which Ouya already publishes,” the company says. “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.”
Perhaps tellingly Razer already has an own take on microconsoles, the Forge TV-- and as such it will merge the Ouya assets with such efforts. The company will also support current Ouya customers for at least 12 months, as well as offer "deep discounts" for migration to Razer hardware and services.
The Ouya was revealed back in 2012, and managed to raise over $8.5 million in Kickstarter reorders. However the company behind the console failed to attract sufficient developer or customer attention, leading to the shutdown of the hardware business on March 2014. However the software side remained relatively healthy through collaborations with Chinese giants Xiaomi (Mi Box) and Alibaba (TMall Box).
