In an interesting move, Ouya has announced that we will soon be seeing the software portion of their platform on other hardware, leaving behind the exclusivity their software had with their Android-powered console system of the same name. This move is to make the Ouya platform more ubiquitous and platform agnostic.
This news comes from Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman who did an interview with [a]listdaily where her thoughts on the subject we announced as well as the plans for expansion.
One thing you’ll start to see is Ouya on other people’s devices. For us, we’ll always have a minimum set of standards so the games will work well on our device as well as others. It’s the hardware plus an ecosystem. If you think about the traditional game consoles, they’re custom hardware and custom chips. To get those games, you have to buy a box for hundreds of dollars. We’ve always wanted to open that up. We started with a $99 box, but we always wanted to create a console platform that can live on other people’s devices.
We just knew it was going to take us a little bit of time to get it ready. Now we think the software is good enough, it’s ready to be embedded in other people’s devices. We actually started having some of these conversations during CES, and the take-up was so great that we’re really jumping into the strategy with both feet this year.
Why the sudden expansion of their platform to other hardware? It could be due to the rumored Amazon console on the way, other consoles like Mad Catz MOJO which comes stock with Google Play access, or it could be a few other reasons. While the Ouya Marketplace does decently and has a lot of games on it, trying to persuade consumers to purchase games again through Ouya’s Marketplace but for their Android devices is going to take some work, even if it is just SmartTVs.
Website Referenced: GamesIndusty.biz
