We all know the sad story of Ouya, how the highly-anticipated and widely-discussed micro-console faded into oblivion within a few months of its release and has been struggling ever since. The company has been desperately looking for a buyer for a while now and it looks like that search is finally over. Razer has confirmed that it has stepped up to the plate and purchased Ouya in the company’s first-ever acquisition.
After raising funds at a $1 billion valuation, gaming company Razer has confirmed its first acquisition. It has bought the software assets of Ouya; and it has acqui-hired the company’s technical and developer relations teams to expand Razer’s Android TV gaming business, specifically around its Forge TV console and the Cortex gaming platform. Notably, Razer is not acquiring the hardware part of Ouya’s business, specifically the microconsole and controller that helped make Razer’s name in the first place. The terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed but “It was an all-cash deal,” Min-Liang Tan, founder and CEO of Razer, told TechCrunch. This means all Ouya’s VC investors have cashed out. But at least one — Alibaba, which put $10 million into Ouya earlier this year — will now be working more with Razer. Ouya CEO and co-founder Julie Uhrman will not be coming over to Razer as part the deal, Uhrman and Tan told TechCrunch, although both note that Uhrman supports the transition. She’s also been thanking lots of people for the last hour over Twitter for their support of the company.
