Akella
From Entertainment Bobber Wiki
Akella is a leading developer, publisher and distributor of video games and other multimedia products on the Russian and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) market. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Moscow, Russia.
Contents |
History[1]
Over successful years of constant development Akella has contributed its most important achievements to building capacity of Russian and CIS gaming market:
Akella was the first to publish an officially localized game (POD, Ubisoft) in Russia. In 2000 Akella finished developing Sea Dogs, and since that time it proved to be a world leading naval games developer.
Building upon Sea Dogs success Akella acquired a right to develop the licensed product of the Hollywood bestseller - Pirates of the Caribbean (Worldwide publisher: Bethesda Software). The game supported two platforms - PC and Xbox - and made a world hit.
A few years later Akella launched servers with completely translated Russian version of MMORPG EverQuest II (Sony Online Entertainment). The game became available on separate servers, with in-house support.
By late 2007 Akella has released more than 800 game titles, educational and developing programs in the CIS and Baltic countries.
The biggest Russian localization studio belonging to Akella makes the most complicated gaming products available for Russian customers with high quality translation on duly time. A few samples of this kind include the best world releases: Prince of Persia series, Postal series, Neverwinter Nights 2, EverQuest II, Painkiller, Sacred, Fahrenheit, Test Drive Unlimited, Armed Assault, Assassin's Creed and others.
Akella positions itself as a reliable partner publishing its best titles in a wide range of countries. Sea Dogs, Pirates of the Caribbean, Age of Sail 2, Privateer's Bounty: Age of Sail 2, and Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales developed by Akella got highly popular with most sophisticated gamers.
In-house development and partnership with other studios are currently aiming at creation of over 70 games. Three Akella's in-house studios have already released a wide range of well-known products on PC, PS2, Xbox 360 and are developing new games for PC and next-gen consoles. Over 30 partner studios are engaged into developing a diverse lineup of products varying from cartoon-based children games to the biggest brand titles.
The most noted Company's current developments include Disciples III, Jagged Alliance III, Postal III, PT Boats: Knights of the Sea and Age of Pirates: Captain Blood.
Akella's staff include more than 250 highly professional employees and top managers.
Akella is partnering with more than 50 world-known publishers including such industry leaders as Atari, Ubisoft, Sony Online Entertainment, and others.
Akella strives to facilitate easy distribution and support of its products across Russia. Akella's distribution network operates in a diverse range of Russian regions from St. Petersburg to the Urals (Yekaterinburg) to the Siberia (Novosibirsk), a total of 20 offices established.
Akella is committed to building respect-based long-term relations with its partners and customers. The Company aims at constant growing, capacity building and achievements leveraging. Akella's shareholders include Quadriga Capital (EBRD fund) and Intel Capital.
Timeline[2]
1993
Akella is established, and begins developing PC games.
1994
Building momentum, Akella increases its pace.
1995
Akella expands its profile as the game developer and registers its official trade mark.
1996
Akella joins the world of international software events, presenting its products at E3, ECTS and Milia.
1997
Akella is the first Russian company to publish an officially localized game (POD, Ubisoft). The game is highly acclaimed by Russian players.
1998
Akella's specialists continue to develop high-quality PC games and software. A great deal of work is done in the sphere of localization and publication of foreign PC games. Over these two years (1997-1998) Akella has published such worldwide hits as the sequel to POD - POD Gold (Ubisoft), UFOs (H+A), and a set of educational programs from Young Genius. Akella also strongly encourages and contributes to local developers, publishing a wide range of multi- and cross-genre games and multimedia products.
1999
Akella begins the development of Sea Dogs, one of the most critically acclaimed naval-battle titles of the time.
2000
Akella finishes developing Sea Dogs, and ever since it has remained a world leader in naval games development. Sea Dogs combines a sails-sim with components of both RPG and action. The game is based on Storm, Akella's proprietary engine, which shows off stunning graphics and realistic physics. The title was published by 1C in Russia and by Bethesda Softworks abroad. The game established a template for virtually all naval RPGs that followed over the next three years.
Later this year Akella developed astounding graphics of Persian Wars, a RTS by Cryo Interactive.
2001
Akella expands its contacts with existing and potential foreign partners. It reaches agreements with several major publishing companies to ship their games to Russia, CIS and the Baltics.
In February, Akella releases Age of Sails II, a 3D RTS developed for Take2/TalonSoft. The game's setting is based on historical events of the sailing epoch. This strategy game is highly acclaimed by gamers throughout the world, and was rated highly in both local and foreign media.
In September, Akella receives yet another request from Cryo Interactive to develop the graphics for its forthcoming adventure game Curse of Atlantis: Thorgal's Quest.
2002
Akella develops and releases another sails RTS, Privateer's Bounty. Building upon the success of Age of Sails II, it features an original storyline and fresh gameplay. The title enjoys overall all-time popularity among naval sim fans in Russia and abroad, whose number keeps growing.
At the 2002 E3, Akella presents Sea Dogs 2, a sequel to the award winning Sea Dogs, which is being developed for PC and Xbox. Gamespy lists Sea Dogs 2 as a runner-up for its "Best RPG at E3'2003" nomination. UGO.com, an acclaimed gaming portal, awards Sea Dogs 2 with the title "Most Awaited RPG at E3."
Akella continues to invest in publishing. The list of titles for which Akella signs publishing and distribution deals includes Gothic 2, Another War, Rabid Dogs 2, Hotel Giant, Worms Blast, World War II: Panzer Claws, Knight Shift, Postal 2, The I of the Dragon, and others.
2003
Akella continues to build publishing and development capacity, as acknowledged by game specialists in Russia and abroad. At the KRI-2003 (Game Development Conference), the biggest Russian game industry event, Akella steals the show, winning in 4 major nominations: "The Best Localizer," "The Best Game Graphics," "The Best Console Game," and "The Best Game."
Building upon the success of Sea Dogs, Akella acquires the rights to develop the Hollywood bestseller - Pirates of the Caribbean (Worldwide publisher: Bethesda Software). The game supports two platforms - PC and Xbox - and quickly becomes another worldwide hit.
Akella signs a deal with its long-term partner Ubisoft for its outstanding FPS XII based on original cell-shading graphics technology. Later this year, Akella publishes Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The game wins Best Action Game of the Year award, as it breaks sales records throughout Russia.
A good tradition of sails games continues with the marvelous Tortuga, developed by Ascaron Entertainment and published by Akella.
Akella localizes Postal 2, developed by Running With Scissors. The controversial title wins wide popularity across the country.
2004
The list of localized and published titles continues to grow. Akella releases one of the best role-playing games of the year - Sacred by Ascaron Entertainment. The long-awaited Gothic 2, published by Akella and 1C, hit Russian retail stores in the winter of this year. Akella's publishing and localization portfolio is further expanded with Painkiller, Dreamcatcher Interactive's flagship first-person shooter of 2004.
Akella also releases a number of expansions and sequels to their award-winning franchises: later that year Battle out of Hell (Painkiller's expansion) and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within shipped to the Russian market.
The end of the year has become a remarkable event on the Russian PC games market, as Akella becomes the official distributor of two MMORPGs, with a plethora of subscribers all over the world - the highly-anticipated and glorious-looking EverQuest II and Final Fantasy XI, a design-and-graphics masterpiece of Japanese developers from Square Enix. The rights to distribute both games were kindly granted by UbiSoft.
2005
Building upon the success achieved in the online games sphere, Akella launches on-line & mobile games departments, signing agreements with several leading market companies.
Akella strives to expand its distribution and support across Russia. Later this year Akella establishes local distribution offices in Saint-Petersburg, Rostov-na-Donu (South of Russia), Yekaterinburg (Urals) and Novosibirsk (Siberia).
Quadriga Capital Russia and Intel Capital have invested in Akella.
2006
Akella launched servers with a completely translated Russian version of the all-popular MMORPG EverQuest II (Sony Online Entertainment). The game becomes available on separate servers, with in-house support.
Akella begins developing the next installments in world-renown franchises: Postal 3 (slated for PC and Xbox 360), Disciples III: Renaissance (PC), and Jagged Alliance 3 (PC).
Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is also published by Akella, again breaking top sales records.
2007
By 2007, Akella has released more than 800 game titles, along with both educational and developing programs, throughout the CIS and Baltic countries. As the largest and most highly-celebrated Russian localization studio, Akella continues to make the most sophisticated and esteemed gaming products available to Russian customers, marked by swift and high-quality translation.
Akella expanded its regional distribution network to 20 local distribution offices across the Russian Federation. Over 2006-2007 Akella has seen a considerable increase in its turnover and profits due to improved sales across its entire range of products and services.
A list of games published by Akella
- Sabotain: Break the Rules (Саботаж: Кулак Империи) (12 November, 2004) by Russian developer Avalon Style Entertainment (it looks like this developer seized to exist, its official site is not working anymore)
- Metalheart: Replicants Rampage (01 August, 2005) by German developer NumLock Software
- Evil Days of Luckless John (04 April, 2006) by Czech developer Centauri Production
- Tanita (Танита: Морское прилкючение) (29 August, 2006) by Russian developer Trickster Games
- Tarr Chronicles: Sign of Ghosts (Хроники Тарр: Призраки звезд) (07 March, 2007) by Russian developer Quazar Studio
- Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power (10 September, 2007) by Wargaming.net
- Inhabited Island: Prisoner of Power (Обитаемы остров: Чужой среди чужих) (03 October, 2007) by Russian developer Orion
- Hard to Be a God (Трудно быть богом) (19 October, 2007) by Russian developer Burut Creative Team (or Burut CT)
- Empire Above All (Империя превыше всего) (19 December, 2007) by Russian developer IceHill
- Inhabited Island: The Earthling (Обитаемый остров: Землянин) (21 December, 2007) by Russian developer Step Creative Group
- Dead Mountaineer's Hotel (Отель "У погибшего альпиниста") (26 December, 2007) by Russian developer Electronic Paradise
- The Bad, The Ugly, and the Sober (Злой, плохой и трезвый) (23 January, 2008) by Russian developer Litera
