Ouya boss apologises after consoles fail to arrive for some Kickstarter backers

The boss of Ouya has apologised after Kickstarter backers didn't receive the console on time.

Ouya had promised that all Kickstarter backers would receive the tiny Android machine before today's official retail release. Many, particularly outside the US, haven't.

In response to the delays CEO Julie Uhrman said: "I am pissed," presumably in relation to her emotional state rather than her alcohol level. In a backer-only update on the Ouya Kickstarter page Uhrman said Ouya units were delivered to the company's distribution partner in May and shipping was paid for.

"Some of you have not yet received your Ouya - and, to you, I apologise," she said. "I did not promise to ship to *most* of you before we hit store shelves. I promised to ship to *all* of you. I've been reading your comments, and we are working to solve this.

"We delivered your Ouyas to our partner in May, and since then they have been in their custody. We paid for shipping, yet the deliveries remain incomplete. We know everyone is getting their Ouya, but it is taking longer than we expected."

Uhrman admitted that it may take another two weeks or more for some of the Ouya units to arrive.

"We will resolve this as quickly as possible," she said. "I've had my team working all evening to provide me with the current state of affairs and what we are doing to make it right."

According to Ouya head of operations Ken Stephens those who have received shipment confirmation should receive their console 15-17 days after that date.

Ouya is manufactured in mainland China with shipments the responsibility of a Hong Kong-based company. "Over the past few months, we encountered and conquered many challenges spanning both hardware and software in order to bring the best product we could to market," Stephens said. "We have tried to make sure that the challenges we faced did not impact our early supporters, but unfortunately we came up short."

In the UK you can buy Ouya for £99 from GAME and Amazon.co.uk. It appears to have sold out at many US retailers.

Eurogamer's Ouya review was published earlier this month.