Remember when everyone was really excited for the Ouya, the Android-powered micro-console that exploded on Kickstarter a while back? Yeah, that was short lived and now the micro-console is struggling to survive. However, there’s still hope for Ouya as Alibaba, the Chinese equivalent of Amazon, has apparently invested $10 million into the struggling company.
Ouya, the game-console maker that has struggled to gain traction since its record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, has received a new injection of capital from a powerful strategic partner. Alibaba invested $10 million in the Santa Monica, Calif., company last month, according to people familiar with the matter. The two companies have discussed a plan to incorporate Ouya’s software and library of more than 1,000 games into Alibaba’s set-top box, the people said. The investment could help Ouya find new life in China, a market where gaming is primed for growth. China’s State Council recently lifted a ban on videogame consoles that had been in place since 2000, and dozens of new entrants are now flooding the country with low-priced set-top boxes that run cheap or free-to-play games.