It’s not just Kickstarter users that want to back the Ouya. Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has just invested ten million dollars into the microconsole. The two companies will partner to integrate Ouya’s software into Alibaba’s set top boxes, which otherwise work as TV streaming devices.
This might be very big for the Ouya, considering the Chinese market is still fresh, what with the recent lift of the console ban. Alibaba’s set top boxes already include a variety of third party games, though they are all just small distractions. The Ouya could actually make these boxes seem like video game consoles.
The Ouya would not be the only Android-based console in China. Companies Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp both released similar Android consoles last year.
Alibaba is not the Ouya’s only investor. Nvidia, Shasta Ventures, the Mayfield Fun, and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers all invested in the company to the tune of fifteen million dollars prior to the Alibaba investment.
Source: Wall Street Journal