Ouya is in talk with hardware partners to license its software, potentially taking on Valve's Steam OS, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman revealed in an interview with A-List Daily on Monday.

Ouya launched its $99 hardware with Android-based gaming software in 2013, suffering a rough ride along the way. The Kickstarter-funded console saw some rocky reviews, slow shipping time to backers, need for refined hardware, and controller issues. Calling 2013 a "proof year", Uhrman says Ouya has "bigger goals this year". And the bigger goals include turning Ouya into an ecosystem.

"One thing you'll start to see is Ouya on other people's devices," Uhrman told A-List Daily. "We started with a $99 box, but we always wanted to create a console platform that can live on other people's devices. We just knew it was going to take us a little bit of time to get it ready. Now we think the software is good enough, it's ready to be embedded in other people's devices."

Ouya held talks with potential manufacturers during CES 2014 in January. "The take-up was so great that we're really jumping into the strategy with both feet this year," the executive said.  

Valve is using a similar strategy as Ouya with its Steam OS, building the software and extending it out to partners. Valve's list includes  Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Origin PC, Gigabyte, CyberPowerPC, Zotac, Next, Webhallen, Alternate, Materiel.net and Scan Computers.

Ouya didn't name potential partners or give an estimated release time.