Published in News

Ouya $99 console gaining support

by on17 July 2012



Major Indie developers are very interested


Since the confirmation of the Kickstarter financing of the Ouya $99 console and the very positive reception that has raised almost $5 million dollars, a number of major indie developers have expressed more than a passing interesting in developing for the console.

While a quite a few indie developers supported the idea initially, many tell us that they did not think that the response to the Kickstarter attempt to get financing for the console would be successful. One idea developer (who asked that we not use his name) told us, “I liked the idea from the get go, but I was not sure that they would be successful in getting enough people to be interested. It still is going to take a lot of convincing to get some indie developers on board, but we will support it and plan customized versions of our releases for it going forward.”

Other developers that we have spoken with expressed a number of questions that still need answered, but are hopeful that the number of people committed to the Ouya console continues to grow. “Where they are now is a good start, but they will need to continue to grow the install base in order to gain more developer support. The best thing is that it isn’t like we are developing for a platform where we don’t have other avenues to release the end result, which I think is the most positive thing that can be said for Ouya right out of the gate. It just remains to be seen how successful it can really be in both the short term and the long term,” another developer told us.

On the subject of if we will see major developers plunge into development of the Ouya, we asked a high ranking developer at a studio that specializes in the development of both iOS and Android gaming titles, and he told us, “While I think the response to the Ouya caught us by surprise, I don’t know yet if it is enough to get us thinking about development of major AAA titles for release on the Ouya platform. I think we still need to know more about the actual installed user base and what kind of potential exists for a good return on a potential investment before you will see us moving in the direction of support for the Ouya specifically; but our Android development will continue in conjunction with the iOS development that we have always done. We will just to have to wait and see.”

The best news is that developers at least know what Ouya is, and they are monitoring the situation actively and have at least thought about it. The best thing that can happen is that more people become committed to the Ouya, as the installed user base will really move the needle for developers more than anything else.

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