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HadesGigas · Jul 28, 2015

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/indie-developers-ouya-owes-us-thousands-of-dollars

Multiple independent developers who wish to remain anonymous have told Motherboard that contracts they had originally signed with Ouya, which promised to pay them thousands of dollars, will not be honored as a result of the acquisition.

We're avoiding specific numbers here to protect the identity of the developers, but payments they say they're owed range between $5,000 and $30,000.

It started as a mutually beneficial relationship. In July 2013, as an attempt to support independent developers and increase the number of exclusive games on Ouya that might attract more customers, Ouya announced the Free the Games Fund. It set $1 million aside to double whatever money an independent developer raised for his game on Kickstarter in exchange for making that game exclusive to Ouya for a minimum of six months.

Earlier this year, as some developers were launching their beta builds, they were asked to sign a contract that mostly matched the original rules, but added section "8.3. Termination Upon Bankruptcy or Insolvency." The contract, which was provided to Motherboard, states that either party may terminate the agreement in the event that the other party becomes insolvent, unable to pay its debts, or goes bankrupt.

As the terms of Ouya's acquisition were being finalized, Ouya notified these developers via Skype voice calls that they will not get the rest of the money they were owed because Ouya will cease to exist as a company following the Razer acquisition. One developer suggested the company wanted to avoid saying this in writing.

Ouya "gently requested" that developers don't take the news to the press, another developer said.

"Claiming Ouya no longer exists as a company to get out of funding commitments, while continuing to use the name in the announcements today as if they still are a company that exists, or that they've somehow transformed the company into a product or service, just stinks," a third developer said. "I think Razer will have trouble ahead if this is the level of respect they continue to show indie devs."

Because the Ouya name really needed more bad news attached to it.

Chindogg · Jul 28, 2015

Wow that's pretty scummy.

Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew · Jul 28, 2015

Fuck Ouya and it's deceit. Have fun, Razer.

Mechazawa · Jul 28, 2015

Ouya and Razer, two bad tastes that taste bad together.

shacklesmcgee · Jul 28, 2015

Ouya "gently requested" that developers don't take the news to the press

uuuh no

AetherZX · Jul 28, 2015

Mechazawa said:
Ouya and Razer, two bad tastes that taste bad together.

I died

Coffee Dog · Jul 28, 2015

"gently requested" just kills me

Kamina777 · Jul 28, 2015

I may be in the minority but I find it hard to pity anyone who partnered with ouya. If there's such thing as a guaranteed failure, Ouya fits the bill. Any deals with the people behind it are pretty much sand castles.

bodyboarder · Jul 28, 2015

Classy move.

HadesGigas · Jul 28, 2015

Kamina777 said:
I may be in the minority but I find it hard to pity anyone who partnered with ouya. If there's such thing as a guaranteed failure, Ouya fits the bill. Any deals with the people behind it are pretty much sand castles.

It was a pretty sweet deal at the time though. Double your Kickstarter funding in exchange for not putting your game on a real console for 6 months (PC was allowed).

Of course, if something sounds too good to be true...

GulAtiCa · Jul 28, 2015

Holy shit. That is horrible!...

jwk94 · Jul 28, 2015

How is this legal?

Cheetos is Pretty Awesome · Jul 28, 2015

Carnies 'til the bitter end. Only fitting that Razer, of all companies, acquired 'em.

Gleethor · Jul 28, 2015

Kamina777 said:
I may be in the minority but I find it hard to pity anyone who partnered with ouya. If there's such thing as a guaranteed failure, Ouya fits the bill. Any deals with the people behind it are pretty much sand castles.

be that as it may, a deal is a deal.

Japanmanx3 · Jul 28, 2015

Wish I could gently request so many thing right now!

Lactose_Intolerant · Jul 28, 2015

jwk94 said:
How is this legal?

They signed the contract. I don't know what the problem is here. Sure it sucks but they agreed to it.

Kamina777 · Jul 28, 2015

Gleethor said:
be that as it may, a deal is a deal.

There is a reason people lose time and money in business. Making deals of this nature, is one of the bigger ones.

Semper88 · Jul 28, 2015

Lactose_Intolerant said:
They signed the contract. I don't know what the problem is here. Sure it sucks but they agreed to it.

This, i mean they already signed a contract so they should not have signed the second one with an added line. Shitty move but yeah..

Kamina777 · Jul 28, 2015

HadesGigas said:
It was a pretty sweet deal at the time though. Double your Kickstarter funding in exchange for not putting your game on a real console for 6 months (PC was allowed).

Of course, if something sounds too good to be true...

Yeah, it sucks but someone else in this thread said it best, they got raw dealed by a bunch of carnies

Corronchilejano · Jul 28, 2015

Lactose_Intolerant said:
They signed the contract. I don't know what the problem is here. Sure it sucks but they agreed to it.

"Unable to pay its debts" is so broad you could fit a truck through it.

Callibretto · Jul 28, 2015

Semper88 said:
This, i mean they already signed a contract so they should not have signed the second one with an added line. Shitty move but yeah..

What will happen if they didn't agreed to signed the second contract though? will they got paid? will their games be removed because they didn't agree on their term?

Risible · Jul 28, 2015

All that high minded talk prior to launch about changing the industry.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Messofanego · Jul 28, 2015

Lactose_Intolerant said:
They signed the contract. I don't know what the problem is here. Sure it sucks but they agreed to it.

But the bankruptcy cover didn't seem to be in the original contract and the update might have been missed by devs?

"Earlier this year, as some developers were launching their beta builds, they were asked to sign a contract that mostly matched the original rules, but added section '8.3. Termination Upon Bankruptcy or Insolvency.'"

I'll have to ask a dev like Matt Gilgenbach (Neverending Nightmares) if he knows more about this.

megabadd · Jul 28, 2015

jwk94 said:
How is this legal?

Although I'd have to see the documents, there's a good argument to say it isn't. There's generally a duty for parties to deal with each other in good faith, and you can't make yourself insolvent so as to back out of agreements. Devs will say they have reliance damages and Ouya will probably counter by saying they are paying for exclusivity that they can no longer benefit from.

Ultimately though, Ouya/Razer is most likely hoping that no one will litigate as it wouldn't be worth the time/cost.

hateradio · Jul 28, 2015

Life after Ouya continues to suck.

Japanmanx3 said:
Wish I could gently request so many thing right now!

Much gentle.

Lactose_Intolerant · Jul 28, 2015

Messofanego said:
But the bankruptcy cover didn't seem to be in the original contract and the update might have been missed by devs?

So it was the devs fault? Which is pretty much what I'm saying. They signed the contract.

Cipherr · Jul 28, 2015

Stiff me out of ~30k then 'gently' request I not pop off about it?

Kamina777 · Jul 28, 2015

Cipherr said:
Stiff me out of ~30k then 'gently' request I not pop off about it?

Yeah that's a funny request. Insult to injury really.

Jpop · Jul 28, 2015

Lactose_Intolerant said:
So it was the devs fault? Which is pretty much what I'm saying. They signed the contract.

Basically.

Ouya didn't see it a failed venture at the start but when they did the contracts were updated to cover their mistake.

People will say it is scummy but it is just business. The developers should not have signed the updated contract and should have lawyers.

Tenzan · Jul 28, 2015

Devs did it to themselves for signing the revised contract

struggler_guts · Jul 28, 2015

Callibretto said:
What will happen if they didn't agreed to signed the second contract though? will they got paid? will their games be removed because they didn't agree on their term?

Interested in the answer to this

Meffer · Jul 28, 2015

And someone said Nintendo should get Ouya? Fucking please.

NinjamicWZ · Jul 28, 2015

As much as I'd like Ouya to just be able to throw in the towel and call it a try, I feel bad for the devs too. If what people are saying about signing a revised contract is true... they'd already committed to a long term plan of action and almost certainly weren't really in a position to effectively turn down the funds upon refusal to sign and then also afford to fight to get what they were originally expecting. It's like trying to go to court against your slumlord when you only have money for rent.

OnPoint · Jul 28, 2015

This is pretty unbelievable.

Oh wait, it's Ouya.

Even for them, this is low.

The_Inquisitor · Jul 28, 2015

Looks like Sony and Microsoft are about to pick up some games.

Walpurgis · Jul 28, 2015

Jachaos · Jul 28, 2015

Why the fuck are some of you defending Ouya on this? It's a dick move and bad business practice. Why don't more companies do this? Because it'd bring them bad reputation and create a PR shit show. Well, that's what Ouya/Razer deserves now. We're talking indies here. Not really the kind of people that can afford to take the blow. This can have big repercussions on some of those developers and their families.

I guess there really is a defense squad for anything now.

malfcn · Jul 28, 2015

What will Gridiron Thunder and Elementary, My Dear Holmes do?

tearsintherain · Jul 28, 2015

I wonder how much Razer paid. Ouya raised $8.5m in its kickstarter, raised another $33m in venture funding, and probably had a few million in angel investors. I can't see why Razer really paid anything, sounds like they just wanted the coders and probably could have poached them pretty easily.

That was really an insane amount of money spent on what turned out to be so much crap.

Tenzan · Jul 28, 2015

Jachaos said:
Why the fuck are some of you defending Ouya on this? It's a dick move and bad business practice. Why don't more companies do this? Because it'd bring them bad reputation and create a PR shit show. Well, that's what Ouya/Razer deserves now. We're talking indies here. Not really the kind of people that can afford to take the blow. This can have big repercussions on some of those developers and their families.

I guess there really is a defense squad for anything now.

It's business, the devs signed a revised contract, a contract of exclusivity for their games so now these devs can put their games on pc/steam so they will make money on their games since its easier to make/port over a game on pc.

Complaining about Razor when Ouya management did the revision on the contracts makes no sense.

Pandy · Jul 28, 2015

jwk94 said:
How is this legal?

I don't think it is.

Two disclaimers. I haven't read the contract, and I'm in the UK. I assume we're talking about US law.

Ouya was bought. I'm not aware of them filing for insolvency or whatever, so I don't think that clause applies. In the UK I'm pretty sure that any contracts, ie. debt, would pass on to the new owners, who would be obliged to honour them.

EDIT: Sorry, third disclaimer. I'm not a lawyer either!

Familiar with a lot of legislation and business contract documents at my work.

Ferrio · Jul 28, 2015

.

HadesGigas · Jul 28, 2015

Tenzan said:
It's business, the devs signed a revised contract, a contract of exclusivity for their games so now these devs can put their games on pc/steam so they will make money on their games since its easier to make/port over a game on pc.

Complaining about Razor when Ouya management did the revision on the contracts makes no sense.

It sounds to me like they signed no contract until the one with that term in it. So they'd either get nothing or agree to these terms.

Could be wrong though. But I think the original rules was not any kind of contract, it was just a thing people could declare on Kickstarter they are doing.

Messofanego · Jul 28, 2015

Jachaos said:
Why the fuck are some of you defending Ouya on this? It's a dick move and bad business practice. Why don't more companies do this? Because it'd bring them bad reputation and create a PR shit show. Well, that's what Ouya/Razer deserves now. We're talking indies here. Not really the kind of people that can afford to take the blow. This can have big repercussions on some of those developers and their families.

I guess there really is a defense squad for anything now.

"It's business!"

LewieP · Jul 28, 2015

Razer better clean up this mess if they want any developers to ever trust them in future.

They are also planning to put the entire Ouya library on Google Play. I spent think earlier revisions of the contract give them the right to do this, maybe it's only for games where the devs signed the updated contract that went out in January.

Pretty bad deal for devs when they could easily publish on Google Play themselves, without letting Ouya/Razer take a 30% cut.

Instro · Jul 28, 2015

I have to say that if there were ever an example of a truly bad kickstarter it would be Ouya. What a shit show.

androvsky · Jul 28, 2015

Pandy said:
I don't think it is.

Two disclaimers. I haven't read the contract, and I'm in the UK. I assume we're talking about US law.

Ouya was bought. I'm not aware of them filing for insolvency or whatever, so I don't think that clause applies. In the UK I'm pretty sure that any contracts, ie. debt, would pass on to the new owners, who would be obliged to honour them.

I'm definitely not a lawyer, but being bought out doesn't sound like insolvency or bankruptcy to me. It actually kinda sounds like the opposite of that, they're suddenly more able to pay their debts than they ever have been.

Obviously a lawyer would have to look at the exact language of the contract, but from what's been posted it doesn't look like a clean way out for Ouya.

Joni · Jul 28, 2015

Pandy said:
Ouya was bought. I'm not aware of them filing for insolvency or whatever, so I don't think that clause applies. In the UK I'm pretty sure that any contracts, ie. debt, would pass on to the new owners, who would be obliged to honour them.

androvsky said:
I'm definitely not a lawyer, but being bought out doesn't sound like insolvency or bankruptcy to me. It actually kinda sounds like the opposite of that, they're suddenly more able to pay their debts than they ever have been.

As I understood the deal, there is still a company Boxer8/OUYA. That company just sold off a couple of assets (in this case software technology, name, employee contracts) to another company, Razer. So it is not described as a take-over but as a sale, so contracts would remain with Boxer8. The money earned by this sale would go to the debtors, starting with the investors. They wouldn't have enough money to cover everything so they'll go bankrupt.

inpHilltr8r · Jul 28, 2015

Gizmondo 2.0

Jachaos · Jul 28, 2015

Tenzan said:
It's business, the devs signed a revised contract, a contract of exclusivity for their games so now these devs can put their games on pc/steam so they will make money on their games since its easier to make/port over a game on pc.

Complaining about Razor when Ouya management did the revision on the contracts makes no sense.

Except they already could release on PC.

I mentioned they are not the kind of people that can take a monetary blow and I meant just that. They don't have big capital so they can't backtrack on their business plan when the platform holder changes the terms of the contract. They'd just have to hope Ouya isn't scummy enough to abuse their new clause via acquisition bullshit.

It's a scummy move. It's not because it's legally okay that it is humanly okay and it's not because it's business that anyone should go cold and defend the wrongdoers.

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