[ad_1]
Update: Razer has now said it will honor Ouya’s outstanding Free the Games payments. Read more.
Original Story
Indie developers say they’re owed thousands of dollars as a result of Razer’s acquisition of the Ouya microconsole storefront and technical team. Speaking anonymously to Vice, multiple developers claim that contracts they originally signed with Ouya, which promised to pay them thousands of dollars, are not being honoured. The value of those deals ranged from $5,000 (£3,000) all the way to $30,000 (£20,000), according to Vice.
Shortly after the release of the Ouya, the microconsole maker attempted to entice developers to create games with the Free the Games Fund. The idea behind the fund was for Ouya to match a game’s successful crowdfunding campaign, provided it raised a minimum of $50,000 and the developer agreed to a six-month exclusivity deal. Unfortunately for Ouya, the fund was embroiled in controversy after it emerged that developers were backing their own Kickstarter campaigns in order to get hold of the free cash.
Ouya later updated the terms of the fund to combat gaming of the system, which included a clause that said developers would get 50 percent of the money when they completed a playable beta version, 25 percent when the game launched, and the final 25 percent at the end of the exclusivity period. According to Vice, as developers were launching their beta builds, they were also asked to sign a new contract, which stated that either party may terminate the agreement in the event that the other party becomes insolvent, unable to pay its debts, or goes bankrupt.
Recently, Ouya allegedly informed developers via Skype that they would not be receiving any more money, because of the Razer acquisition, claiming that Ouya will cease to exist as a company. Ouya then suggested that its new parent company might be able to help, while also “gently” requesting that developers don’t take the news to the press.
“[Ouya] paid the first instalment when we submitted our beta,” one developer told Vice. “I’ve been working on bringing the game to release expecting to attain the remaining two instalments but that won’t happen now. A lot of hard work went into controller support and UI elements just for OUYA. It’s hard to ask for additional artwork to finish a game when the tail end of your budget just disappears, much less advertise upon release.”
“Claiming Ouya no longer exists as a company to get out of funding commitments, while continuing to use the name in the announcements today as if they still are a company that exists, or that they’ve somehow transformed the company into a product or service, just stinks,” another developer told Vice. “I think Razer will have trouble ahead if this is the level of respect they continue to show indie devs.”
If true, these claims add to what has been a tumultuous few years for Ouya, which was once the darling of Kickstarter. After raising over $8 million (£5 million) in crowdfunding, Ouya suffered from slow sales at retail, and slow developer take-up. As the debt piled up, developers continued to report slow sales of their games on the microconsole. The company later received a $10 million infusion from Alibaba, but this clearly wasn’t anywhere near enough to save the company from a buyout.
[ad_2]
Source link
