Is Razer poised to purchase OUYA?

OUYA, the home console based around Android, has had a rough ride; but if new rumours are to be believed, its worries may be coming to an end. Razer, best known for their enthusiast level PC peripherals, are entering the Android-based console market with their Razer Forge TV console – and are poised to take over OUYA for $10million, if rumours are to be believed.

The troubled company first made headlines back in July 2012, by reaching and exceeding its fundraising target. An impressive $8.6 million total makes it rank among the top five campaigns on Kickstarter (904% of the funds needed to launch). Developers rushed forth to show their support for the system, but the console was met with tepid reviews – and a disappointing launch game library. It officially launched a year after its successful Kickstarter ended, at which point its hardware was already outdated. Those who were eager to show their support even had their software pulled. Despite the company’s disappointing past, it still holds many exclusive titles, and the expertise of the hardware and UI teams – valuable assets for Razer.

Not much has been heard from OUYA since, but the console-maker received a much needed boost earlier this year from the Chinese firm: Alibaba. The e-commerce giant invested $10million into OUYA, in order to gain access to the OUYA library for its set-top boxes. A similar deal was made between Xiaomi and OUYA for its own brand of set-top boxes. These partnerships are part of Julie Uhrman’s (CEO of OUYA) OUYA Everywhere initiative, which ushers in wider access to the “largest independent library of Android games.” The Razer Forge TV is set to release later this year, with a retail price of $99.
Source: TechCrunch