The Ouya is supposed to be an indie developer’s dream. The console’s OS runs on Android, games are easy to program for using the Unity engine and it’s easy to get your game on the marketplace. The Ouya console is $99.99, the cheapest console gaming platform on the market. Then why aren’t the consoles flying off the shelves? Why aren’t consumers buying games faster than the developers can make them?

Because no one is buying Ouya’s. A lack of hardware sales translates to a lack of software sales and the dedicated developers who have launched games for the Ouya are feeling the pinch. The Ouya launched shortly after E3 which took place in June. Hell, I was surprised to hear the console had launched.

The Ouya may be an Android device with a controller, but it’s still an Android device and hardcore gamers don’t buy a lot of games for their phones or tablets. Here’s a list of games and their developers who have disclosed their sale figures.

I’m not saying that the Ouya was a bad idea. There are a lot of iOS and Android games made by Indie developers whose games need a controller type of setup. This makes Ouya the perfect place to port or launch their games, but that is all predicated on the sales of the Ouya console. If no one is buying the console, then no one will purchase the games and games like Nimble Quest, which needs that controller, will be left wanting sales. Developing games isn’t easy and Ouya represents one of the easier ways of getting a game into a store. Towerfall may not have brought in a ton of money, but has earned Matt Thorson enough recognition that he plans on bringing his game to the PC.