Ouya amends its Free the Games developer matching fund

Ouya chief executive Julie Uhrman announced today that she is making changes to the Ouya Free the Games Fund after receiving negative feedback on the loopholes in the program that developers used to game the system.

Ouya started the $1 million fund with the intention of financially rewarding developers who raised money successfully on Kickstarter and pledged to give some exclusivity to Ouya’s Android-based microconsole. Ouya would match the funds raised for any campaigns that raised more than $50,000 for an Ouya game.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.