Last month, rumors of a potential acquisition of OUYA by computer hardware and accessory manufacturer Razer started popping up. Well, in a press release issued today, Razer confirmed that on June 12th the company purchased "the software assets of OUYA, including its content catalog and online retail platform."
Razer will be relaunching the OUYA store under the name "Cortex for Android TV," though it will additionally be publishing "Android TV content and Android-based TV console games under the OUYA moniker as a separate interest." As for the OUYA console itself (and its poorly received controller), Razer has stated that it "is not retaining interest in OUYA hardware or related other assets." Financial details of the purchase were not disclosed.
In addition to buying the OUYA name, software, and digital storefront, Razer has hired the Android game console's technical team and developer relations staff. It does not seem, however, that OUYA founder Julie Uhrman will be joining her staff once the transition is complete. In a long series of tweets this morning, Uhrman sent thanks to those who supported the project before saying her goodbyes to her team:
.@Razer Can't wait to see what you do. Take care of my incredible team and community...I know you will.
— Julie Uhrman (@juhrman) July 27, 2015
.@juhrman OUYA was a once in a lifetime experience. Now, I'm off to find the next...stay tuned!
— Julie Uhrman (@juhrman) July 27, 2015
According to Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan, the company is deeply invested in creating a successful TV-based game console built on the Android platform. Tan hopes to build on foundation built by OUYA, stating that "[the company'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." Tan also notes that there will a "migration path" for OUYA owners to transfer their digital games onto Razer's on Forge brand "micro-console."
I could see how this acquisition seems strange. Given the OUYA's lukewarm reception, what makes the company (and even more broadly, the idea of a dedicated, Android-based game console) so attractive to Razer?
The answer is that Razer wants access to a potentially very large Chinese market. In this press release, Tam states that "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.” Both of those streaming boxes launched in China in the last year. In an interview with Polygon's Brian Crecente, Tam explains that Razer already does a great deal of business in the Chinese market, hoping to "amp up" the spread of Android games in China.
This all comes just a day after China fully lifted their fifteen year long ban on the production and sale of video game consoles. It's unclear if that ban would've restricted the Android-based consoles that Razer was planning to make, but it's certainly one less concern to be worried about for the company. Lots of has been written about the potentially emerging entertainment market of China, but only time will tell how initiatives like this will play out.
I was going to end on a joke about how, whatever the future holds, we can be sure that Razer's build quality will at least be better than OUYA's, but then I remembered that just last week, Ultra Street Fighter IV Champion Momochi nearly had his championship run ruined by a technical failure of his Razer stick. Whoops. (That said, I'd still rather play a fighting game with a faulty Razer stick than with the old OUYA controller. Can you imagine doing a dragon punch on that thing?)
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