Ouya isn't just Kickstarter funded (update)

Kickstarter isn't enough for the Ouya console, according to its developer.

The developers behind Kickstarter-funded Ouya do not intend to "engage in any conversations related to funding" while they are on Kickstarter, founder Julie Uhrman told Polygon today.

The comment comes in the wake of an interview with Develop in which Uhrman seemed to indicate that the company was seeking financing outside of Kickstarter during the crowdsource fund drive.

"This is a really big undertaking and it's going to be expensive," said Uhrman. "We're looking for additional funds of money but more importantly we wanted to take it to Kickstarter regardless."

Urhman states Kickstarter offered the necessary support from both gamers and developers in order to bring content and additional partners to the console.

"It is unbelievable validation where gamers really demonstrate their enthusiasm with for what we're doing with dollars, and those numbers demonstrate that there is a market."

She added she hopes to reclaim the television for gaming since the recent movement away from consoles and toward mobile platforms.

"[Developers and gamers are] switching focus from TV to mobile platforms. Gamers find hardware and software still to be super expensive and developers feel that it is still complicated and expensive to bring games to the living room."

Ouya is described as a $99, Android-powered, hackable game console. Polygon recently looked into the many challenges facing the console on its way to transforming the face of the industry. As CEO of Tiswaz Entertainent, Kevin Dent, told us:

"It's not going to ship. It's just not going to ship. It just costs too much to develop this. $4 million is nothing. They've got to pay fabrication. They've got to pay designers. They've got to pay manufacturers. They've got to market it. It's a business. $4 million is nothing."

Update:In a statement to Polygon today, Uhrman clarified Ouya's position on funding. While the start-up did seek funds prior to the Kickstarter, and may do so afterward, they aren't currently seeking any funding outside of the still ongoing Kickstarter, she said. We've updated this post to reflect Uhrman's comments.

A full statement from Uhrman to Polygon is below:

"Let me be clear, OUYA is not seeking additional funding outside of Kickstarter. Our priority now is to continue to focus on building a great game console while engaging in our ongoing Kickstarter campaign."

"Our intent in going to Kickstarter was to raise money that would take us from functional prototype to product on the market."

"With respect to our funding, we have been candid in disclosing an early round raised through friends and family that included backing from investors like Digg founder Jay Adelson, Flixster founder Joe Greenstein, and Jawbone founder Hosain Rahman."

"We do not intend to engage in any conversations related to funding while we are on Kickstarter. And, it's not like we are going to start speed dialing VCs as soon as the Kickstarter campaign ends. Once our Kickstarter campaign closes funding our priority will be getting OUYA to market, and delivering the best game experience possible. Fundraising will not be top of the list."

"Unfortunately, I think this rumor sprung from a misunderstood answer during an interview and we are trying to contact the reporter to clarify."