Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Ouya Gets $15 Million In New Funding
As Ouya's official June 25th retail release nears, the company has secured $15 million in additional funding to "meet increased demand" among other things.
The money comes from the investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) with help from other sources, including Nvidia, and Ouya says that it will be used to help with the retail launch as well as support the Android gaming console's development community. Interestingly, not all the pre-release Kickstarter backers have gotten theirs yet.
The company also announced that KPCB general partner and former longtime Electronic Arts executive Bing Gordon will join Ouya's board of directors.
For more on the Ouya, check out Bertz's hands-on impressions with an early version of the system.
Press release on the next page.
LOS ANGELES - May 9, 2013 - Video game startup OUYA today announced $15 million in new funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), with participation from the Mayfield Fund, NVIDIA, Shasta Ventures, and Occam Partners. The company intends to use the additional funding to support OUYA's growing game development community, and meet increased demand for the upcoming retail launch. KPCB General Partner Bing Gordon will join the company's board of directors, which also includes Julie Uhrman, OUYA founder and CEO, and Roy Bahat, chairman of the Board.
OUYA's vision for a new kind of game console, open to all game developers, was brought to life through the support of early backers who crowdfunded the initial product development on Kickstarter. The crowdfunding effort set Kickstarter records, and delivered $8.6 million-almost nine times the target raise-signaling strong consumer demand for the console. Venture funding validates the business strategy.
"We want OUYA to be here for a long time to come," said Uhrman. "The message is clear: people want OUYA. We first heard this from Kickstarter backers who provided more than $8 million to help us build OUYA, then from over 12,000 developers who have registered to make an OUYA game, next from retailers who are carrying OUYA online and soon on store shelves, and now from top pioneering investors."
Before joining KPCB where Gordon is focused on digital investments, he was a long-time executive at Electronic Arts, beginning with EA's founding in 1982 which had initial funding from KPCB. As an OUYA board member, Gordon will advise the company as it scales its development community and executes its retail strategy and product development plans. Gordon also serves on the board of directors of Amazon, Klout, Lockerz, MEVIO, Zazzle and Zynga.
"OUYA's open source platform creates a new world of opportunity for established and emerging independent game creators and gamers alike," said Gordon. "There are some types of games that can only be experienced on a TV, and OUYA is squarely focused on bringing back the living room gaming experience. OUYA will allow game developers to unleash their most creative ideas and satisfy gamers craving a new kind of experience."
OUYA's appeal lies in its unique philosophy within the console market. On OUYA, every game is free to try, and any developer can publish a game. OUYA is powerful enough to run 3D games in beautiful 1080p HD with its NVIDIA Tegra-3 processor, and open enough to invite game developers to bring their most creative inventions back to the television. More than 12,000 game creators worldwide have registered to make an OUYA game, from AAA studios to new entrants, including Square Enix, Inc., Double Fine Productions, Tripwire Interactive, Vlambeer, Kim Swift's Airtight Games, Mighty Rabbit Studios, nWay, Polytron Corporation, and many others.
OUYA is now shipping exclusively to early backers as part of a preview program. On June 25th, OUYA will be available for purchase in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. through retailers Amazon, Best Buy, GAME, GameStop, and Target, and on OUYA.tv for $99.99. Additional controllers will retail for $49.99. Through these retailers, consumers can pre-order OUYA today.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
