Ever feel like you’re moving at the speed of light? It was on July 10th, last year at 5:45am, in my backwards baseball cap and Ugg boots, that I pushed the “publish” button on Kickstarter and waited for my world to change. Turns out I wasn’t alone: YOU showed up making it clear that gaming, as we knew it, needed a shakeup — and OUYA was born. Now, a year later, OUYA is ALIVE. 250+ games. 21,000+ developers. Seven major retailers.

And now the *real* fun begins.

So a year ago, you helped us take Kickstarter by storm with a new way to play video games and today, we are returning the favor. We are all about seeing new, inventive games get made for the console. So I am proud to announce OUYA’s Free the Games Fund, a first-of-its-kind program to support Kickstarter games built for OUYA, with $1 million in matching funds. More than 21,000 registered OUYA game developers, plus tens of thousands of other game creators, could have access to matching funds – from $50,000 up to $250,000 – for OUYA-bound games launched on Kickstarter.

To be eligible for the OUYA Free the Games Fund…

– Your campaign must launch on Kickstarter on or after August 9, 2013, conclude by August 10, 2014, and receive at least $50,000 in funding (or GBP equivalent!)
– You need to include a short description which we’ll provide detailing the campaign on your Kickstarter campaign page
– You agree to launch exclusively on OUYA for a minimum of six months beginning on the date the game becomes available for download

And, in return, OUYA will…

– Match 100% of the total funds raised up to $250,000 (or until our $1M fund runs out!)
– Provide a bonus earn-out of $100,000 to the game that raises the most cash via Kickstarter by the end of the one year fund

For more details, visit www.ouya.tv/freethegamesfund

Anyway, just wanted to take a beat, slow the world down, and remember the beginning (and hope that just about every Kickstarter backer now has their unit in hand!).

I can’t wait to see what great games we’re able to support and help bring to life!

Now back to work — since as you know, there’s always work to be done — to make sure OUYA continues to get better.

Keep playing,
Julie