Ouya was a $99 Android-based video game console designed by Yves Béhar and founded by former IGN executive Julie Uhrman, pitched as an open, hackable alternative to mainstream consoles[1].

Where did Ouya come from?

It was announced by The Verge on July 2nd, 2012, and launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 10th, 2012, that raised over $8.5 million from more than 60,000 backers[1][2].

Ouya is the brand name of the console itself; it does not stand for anything specific and was the name of the Los Angeles startup founded to build the hardware[1].

Owners plugged the small cube-shaped console into a TV and downloaded Android games through Ouya's store, which required every title to offer a free trial, though online services were shut down in June 2019[3].

Is Ouya still popular?

No, Ouya is dead. Razer bought the company in 2015, discontinued the hardware, and shut down all Ouya online services on June 25th, 2019[3].

Ouya

2012eventdead

Published September 20, 2026

Ouya was a $99 Android-based video game console that raised over $8.5 million on Kickstarter in July 2012, making it one of the platform's biggest campaigns ever. Despite the hype, the console flopped after launch, got bought by Razer in 2015, and was officially shut down in 2019, cementing its reputation as one of gaming's most spectacular crowdfunding busts.

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Overview

Ouya was a small, cube-shaped Android-powered game console pitched at $99, designed by Yves Béhar and marketed as a system that was 'built to be hacked'1. The whole appeal was openness: cheap hardware, an Android OS anyone could tinker with, and a store where every game had to offer a free trial. It was aimed squarely at indie developers and players priced out of the Xbox and PlayStation ecosystem2.

The project became a cultural moment less because of the console itself and more because of how it was funded. Its record-breaking Kickstarter turned Ouya into shorthand for the crowdfunding gold rush of the early 2010s, when a slick pitch video could out-earn a AAA marketing budget3. Once the actual hardware shipped in 2013, the narrative flipped, and Ouya became just as well-known as a cautionary tale about hype outpacing product.

Origin & Background

Platform

Kickstarter

Creator

Julie Uhrman

Date

2012

On July 2nd, 2012, The Verge broke the story of a stealth startup on AngelList building a $99 hackable Android console, headed by former IGN executive Julie Uhrman with industrial design by Yves Béhar1. Coverage rippled through Kotaku, NeoGAF and Eurogamer over the following days1. On July 10th, 2012, Ouya launched its Kickstarter campaign asking for $950,0002.

The campaign hit its goal in about eight hours and crossed $1 million within roughly ten3. By the time the 30-day campaign closed, Ouya had raised $8,596,474 from more than 60,000 backers, at the time the second-most-funded Kickstarter project ever and the platform's biggest gaming campaign2 3. Those records for fastest-to-a-million and biggest 24-hour haul were later broken by the Veronica Mars film Kickstarter in March 20131.

Ouya

Overview

Origin & Background

How It Spread

Frequently Asked Questions

References (6)