The dream of being able to play smartphone-quality games on a TV by using the worst controller since the Nintendo 64 is at an end, as Razer is shutting down the Ouya store, which means that it will be impossible to purchase or redownload games when the service closes down at the end of June.
The Ouya was an early crowdfunding success, as it earned over eight million dollars on Kickstarter when it was first announced in 2012. The purpose of the Ouya was to create an affordable console that could run Android-compatible games on a big TV. The Ouya was finally released to the public in 2013, where people quickly realized what a terrible idea it was and it swiftly fell into obscurity. Ouya Inc. would close its doors and all of the assets for the company and the console were sold to Razer Inc.
All official support for the Ouya will be ending soon, as Razer has announced that the stores for Forge TV, Mad Catz M.O.J.O., and the Ouya will be closing down on June 25, 2019.
According to Razer's announcement, the units will still function. Any funds that the customer has added to the store cannot be reclaimed after the shut-off date, so Razer is encouraging people to spend the remainder of their credit before that happens. All accounts associated with these stores will be deleted after the shut-off date, as will the websites associated the products.
The player will still be able to access and play any Ouya game that doesn't require a purchase validation in order to launch. This means that some games will not be accessible at all after the service shuts down.
The Ouya is regarded as a commercial failure and it stands as more of an example of the hysteria that came with the initial crowdfunding boom than as a gaming console. The idea of being able to play cellphone games on a TV probably wouldn't have gained any ground a year or two later (indeed, it didn't when the Ouya went on sale), but there is no denying that there was genuine excitement for the console when it was first announced.
The Ouya service will shut down on June 25, 2019.