14 DAY TRIAL // The development team behind the Ouya has announced that it will soon be available as a software suite, embedded on other companies' devices.
Ouya intends to nominate a certain minimum set of standards that have to be met in order to ensure that devices that will implement the Ouya software suite will be able to run games as well like the native Ouya hardware does.
Although the Ouya began life as a hardware-specific company, aiming to deliver an affordable and portable Android-based console and seeing massive success on Kickstarter, the officials have stated that the move to separate the hardware from the ecosystem is congruent with the original development philosophy of making games more accessible than on traditional consoles, which tend to be quite pricey.
The company has also started a similar Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign aiming to help game development for the platform, but it struggled with some problems, as a couple of projects were found to be exploiting the system in order to gain essentially free funding.
Overall, the console got the public's attention, especially considering it was shipped to retail outlets in June 2013, when all the gaming world was highly excited for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One's impending launch.
Ouya has certainly been busy improving on key areas, providing regular software updates, a revised controller design as well as continuously getting more games for its ecosystem. The Ouya is currently available across North America and Europe and many consoles have been shipped to other areas of the world too.
"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 takeup was so great that we're really jumping into the strategy with both feet this year," Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman shared on Alistdaily.
This means that gamers will no longer have to own an Ouya device in order to access the Ouya service, which already hosts over 600 games, of which around 20 percent are exclusives, and which marks as its key difference from other Android-related stores the fact that all its library its either free to play or at least free to try.
However, the company will not abandon their hardware plans any time soon, as there will always be an Ouya reference device, similar to the Kindle or even Google's strategy.
"Ouya is more than just that reference device, it’s an ecosystem that really can live on other people's devices. One of the focuses this year is Ouya finding ways to bring games to more people, regardless of where they play."
How well the company is doing is still a mystery, as the company has yet to release any sales figures, but the reported monetization on its wide array of free-to-play games has been overall disappointing for the $99 / €99 / £99 console.
However, Uhrman said that developers are starting to find success, and although not making millions yet, they are finding an audience and starting to build credibility and a real brand identity, as many of the developers involved with the system are coming back for seconds.