# The Fate of Ouya

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fate-of-ouya/718808>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [April 29, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fate-of-ouya/718808 "2015-04-29T13:57:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fate-of-ouya/718808/1 "2015-04-29T13:57:24Z")

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Do I get to say “I told you so”? 😉

Seems that they’ve got a pile of debt. Not a good situation to be in, but I can’t say I’m overly surprised.

> **[Exclusive: Gaming startup OUYA needs to find a buyer quickly](https://fortune.com/2015/04/28/exclusive-gaming-startup-ouya-needs-to-find-a-buyer-quickly/)**
>
> OUYA has been unable to restructure its debt, and now needs to quickly find a buyer.

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**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fate-of-ouya/718808/2 "2015-04-29T16:48:52Z")

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I don’t know what they were hoping for exactly.

It costs Microsoft and Sony billions upon billions of dollars to bring a console to market. This thing was never going to compete with that.

The casual audience simply plays crappy games on their cell phones and tablets and browsers. The audience willing to go out and purchase a machine specifically for gaming isn’t going to pick a Ouya over a Nintendo or Sony or Microsoft console or even a gaming PC.

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**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fate-of-ouya/718808/3 "2015-04-30T16:16:56Z")

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> [@Airk](#):
>
> Do I get to say “I told you so”? 😉
> 
> Seems that they’ve got a pile of debt. Not a good situation to be in, but I can’t say I’m overly surprised.

No, no surprise. Here’s what I said 3 years ago:

> [@](#):
>
> I can’t see a viable business model in what they’re planning.
> 
> The project is too small to generate an install base that will justify a developer targeting the system. Why would an indie dev make a game for the OUYA when they could spend that time making a PC or iOS game that might actually earn them a few bucks? And the economics get even worse for non-indie games.