Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has invested $10 million in the Android-based Ouya microconsole. According to a report on the Wall Street Journal, Alibaba has partnered with Ouya Inc. to discuss a plan that will incorporate the Ouya's software into Alibaba's own "set top-box."
Chinalifted its 13-year ban on the sale of video game consolesin 2013. Since then, a number of companies have entered the potentially lucrative Chinese market, withMicrosoft launching the Xbox One in China in September last year. Sony's own plans to launch the PS4 in China were delayedearlier this month. Reports of Ouya entering the Chinese market surfaced in September last year, with allegations stating that the company had partnered with smartphone giant Xiaomi Inc to bring Ouya games to Xiaomi's streaming boxes and smart TVs.
Alibaba is an electronic commerce company that offers a variety of sales services, with an estimated market value of $231 billion as of September last year. The company's consumer-to-consumer site Taobao ranks in the top 20 of the most-visited websites in the world.
The original Kickstarter campaign for the Ouya concluded with $8.6 million in crowdfunding. The company went on to secure an additional $15 million through venture capital funding in 2013. The console officially went on sale for $99 in 2013, but it has failed to gather much attention.
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