Ouya is relaxing its limitations on game developers in a bid to bolster support for the Android-based microconsole. In a blog post, the company says that it will soon allow developers to release games that lack a free-to-try component. To date, all games for the console have been required to either be entirely free or have a free-to-play component. Alternatively, developers could offer a free demo. But amidst complaints that the requirement wasn’t a match for certain games or that a production of a demo was beyond developers’ budgets, Ouya is changing its rules. According to Polygon, come April, developers will be able to use either a free-to-play or a paid model.
Ouya drops free-to-play requirement to attract more high-quality games
In a blog post, Ouya makes it clear what led to the move: “We’re clearing another roadblock in the pathway to publishing on the TV, and that means more great games will make it to Ouya.” The open game console — which goes against the traditional model of major systems from companies like Sony and Microsoft — struggled through a difficult launch and shoddy hardware, and it recently pivoted away from hardware altogether.
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