Responding to the flak that it is receiving over its developer program, OUYA is announcing some changes to the policies and requirements to be eligible for the fund-matching benefits. This is to ensure that previous scandals that have occurred will no longer be possible, giving a fair chance to everyone interested in joining.
OUYA opened the doors to its “Free the Games” program to entice game developers to create games for the tiny Android console. As part of the deal, OUYA will match funds of up to $250,000 any Kickstarter campaign that raises more than $50,000, in exchange for a 6-month exclusivity on OUYA. Unfortunately, loopholes in the program allowed wily individuals to qualify by asking family or associates to single-handdely bankroll the project. This drew a lot of criticism to the project, which has now forced OUYA to enforce new rules.
Under the modified rules, the minimum amount that needs to be raised to qualify for fund-matching is $10,000 while the maximum matching amount still remains at $250,000. However, for every $10,000 raised, there must be at least 100 backers to the Kickstarter campaign, to prevent the previous episodes from recurring. Furthermore, the game must be exclusive to OUYA for a month for every $10,000 matched by OUYA, for a maximum of 6 months. Here’s the statement made by OUYA Head Honcho Julie Uhrman:
OUYA is also now establishing a way for the community to report on suspicious projects, which the company will review and pass verdict on. Hopefully, these changes will satisfy all parties involved so that everyone can just go do what they all set out to do anyway: make awesome Android games.
SOURCE: OUYA
Now this will make people upset. I am personally glad ouya keeps trying and I hope Google does come out with their own 100 dollar console, with more and more old console games ending up in the play store and new ones being made. Being able to go from an android console then loading up save to another if I’m at someone’s house without having to worry about…. Did I remember my memory card or whatever else.