Thatgamecompany’s Kellee Santiago joins Ouya team

The former co-founder of Thatgamecompany Kellee Sanitago has joined Ouya to lead its developer relations.

The Ouya team had been searching for someone to lead its outreach to developers, and specifically wanted “someone who really ‘gets’ how developers work”, and can help them bring their creative work to the platform.

Santiago, who was a key part of Journey maker Thatgamecompany, left the studio in March last year in what was said to be an amicable departure.

“Ouya gets it. This is the first console company that really understands how important it is to remove the barriers to development. By freeing up the development process, Ouya is opening up new doors in console gaming,” said Santiago in a post on Ouya’s blog.

One of the first developers that Santiago may be working with is Portal co-creator Kim Swift, whose studio Airtight Games is developing a title for Ouya.

Kim added: “We truly feel that this platform will give us the freedom to fully realise the funky, unique game we have in mind. Though the title will definitely appeal to core gamers in terms of skill and difficulty, it really has a completely unexpected, imaginative slant that’s totally at home on this console. Expect an official announcement soon!”

Other developer making titles for the console include Minority Media, Tripwire Interactive and nWay.

Ouya is currently scheduled to begin shipping to Kickstarter backers from March 28th.