Ouya kicks off $1 million dev support fund to attract exclusives

The developers behind Ouya will begin supporting new up-and-coming developers following the announcement of the Ouya Free the Games Fund, a program designed to support the development of Kickstarter crowdfunded games with $1 million in funds.

"There are two reasons why Ouya is on retail store shelves today: we had an innovative idea to build an affordable and open game console for the television, and we found fans who supported our idea and provided the funds to make it happen," said CEO Julie Uhrman. "Since then, we've seen dozens of great games launch on Kickstarter, and now we are in the enviable position of being able to give back AND secure the best, exclusive games for OUYA."

The Free the Games fund supports the development community currently registered as Ouya game devs, in addition to all starter developers developing titles for the new system. The company is offering between $50,000 and $250,000 to upcoming Ouya titles that are launching on Kickstarter between Aug. 9, 2013 and Aug. 10, 2014.

In order to be elligible, games must reach their Kickstarter funding goal and raise a minimum of $50,000. Once successful, Ouya will match 100 percent of total funds raised up to $250,000. Game developers must in addition make their game exclusive to the Ouya console for at least six months. The title that raises the most through Kickstarter by the summer 2014 will earn an additional $100,000 from Ouya.

More details can be found right here.