Just a year after the $99 Ouya console first went up for sale, its creator - also called Ouya - may be looking to sell.
Re/code claims that the company is holding preliminary acquisition talks with several big players in China, as well as a few in the United States. There has apparently “also been some engagement” with Google and Amazon, who have shown interest. There’s yet to be an offer put on to the table, but talks are proceeding.
The report also claims that the potential buyers are more interested in the staff of the company rather than the product itself, which has yet to really find a solid market for itself. For China - who lifted their 13-year ban on consoles earlier this year - the move would help firms there figure out their strategy for getting into the console market. While they could just go ahead and make their own consoles from scratch, taking over a company like Ouya would help them move forward much quicker.
The initial buzz for Ouya was incredible, after it raised over $8.5 million dollars on Kickstarter in August 2012, nearly ten times its initial goal. But after a string of delays, the console was finally released the following summer to tepid response. Despite its relatively unique focus on “free-to-try” games, the limited library hurt its market potential. In April of this year, it was revealed that Ouya’s best-selling game, Towerfall, had shifted only 7,000 units.
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