The Ouya ( OO-yə), stylized as OUYA, is an Android-based microconsole developed by Ouya Inc. Julie Uhrman founded the project in 2012, bringing in designer Yves Béhar to collaborate on its design and Muffi Ghadiali as VP of Product Management to put together the engineering team. Development was funded via Kickstarter, raising US$8.5 million, becoming one of the website's highest earning projects in its history.
Units started to ship to Kickstarter backers in March 2013 and were released to the general public in June 2013. It featured a store for applications and games designed specifically for the Ouya platform, the majority of which were casual games. Out of the box, Ouya supports media apps such as Twitch and the Kodi media center. It runs a modified version of Android Jelly Bean, with rooting being officially encouraged. The console's hardware design allows it to be easily opened up, requiring only a standard screwdriver for easy modding and possible hardware add-ons.All systems can be used as development kits, allowing any Ouya owner to also be a developer, without the need for licensing fees. All games were initially required to have some kind of free-to-play aspect, whether they be completely free, have a free trial, or have optional purchasable upgrades, levels, or other in-game items. This requirement was later removed.Despite the successful Kickstarter campaign, the Ouya became a commercial failure. Sales were lackluster, game developers failed to embrace the platform, and incentives offered to promote adoption failed causing financial problems for Ouya Inc. and forcing the company to wind down the business. Its software assets were sold to Razer Inc., who announced the discontinuation of the console in July 2015. Razer continued to provide software support for existing Ouya units until June 2019, when it shut down the Ouya storefront, services and accounts, rendering the use of the many applications that required a check-in with the store impossible.
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