Akella

Akella
IndustryVideo games
Founded1993 (1993)
Defunct2012
FateBankruptcy, Liquidated
HeadquartersMoscow, Russia
Number of employees
250 (2012)
DivisionsAkella Online
Websiteakella.com

Akella (Russian: Акелла) was a Russian software company specialising in the development, publishing and distribution of video games and multimedia products. The founders met in 1993 and decided to start a company together and in 1995 formed Akella. The company comprised five in-house development teams, a publishing house, a distribution center, a localisation team and a quality assurance department; in total, 250 people were employed by Akella. There were several sub-brands owned by Akella, such as Macho Studios, that developed erotic games and published Japanese hentai dating sims.[1][2]

The company is named after a Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book character, Akela the wolf, and its logo is a wolf.

Defunct status

During 2012, the company was amid multiple lawsuits totalling ₽200,000,000[3] (roughly $6,000,000) which, combined with the significant developmental difficulties and commercial failings of Postal III, pushed Akella to the verge of bankruptcy. As a result, the company, while technically still existing, has effectively ceased operations since 2012.[4]

Games developed and published

YearTitlePlatform(s)Developer(s)Publisher(s)
1997PostalWindowsRunning with ScissorsRipcord Games, Loki Entertainment, Running with Scissors, Akella (in Russia)
1998LiquidatorMS-DOSPartizan SoftwareAkella[5]
2000Sea DogsWindowsAkellaBethesda Softworks
2001Age of Sail IIWindowsAkellaBethesda Softworks
2002Privateers Bounty: Age of Sail IIWindowsAkella1C Company
2003Bomber FunWindowsLightBrainAkella (in Russia)
Postal 2Running with ScissorsWhiptail Interactive, Running with Scissors, Akella (in Russia)
Postal 2: Share the Pain
Pirates of the CaribbeanAkellaBethesda Softworks and 1C Company
Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend Running with Scissors Whiptail Interactive, Running with Scissors, Akella (in Russia)
2004Sabotain: Break the RulesWindowsAvalon Style EntertainmentAkella
Red Skies Over EuropeInteractive VisionAkella
2005Metalheart: Replicants RampageWindowsNumlock SoftwareDreamCatcher and Akella
Postal 2: Corkscrew Rules!Avalon Style EntertainmentAkella
2006Evil Days of Luckless JohnWindowsCentauri ProductionCINEMAX, Akella
Tanita: Plasticine DreamTrickster GamesAkella
Mad Tracks Load inc. Akella (in Russia)[6]
Age of Pirates: Caribbean TalesAkella1C Company
Sakura WarsSega, Red EntertainmentAkella (in Russia)
2007Tarr Chronicles: Sign of GhostsWindowsQuazar StudioAkella
Galactic Assault: Prisoner of PowerWargamingAkella
Inhabited Island: Prisoner of PowerOrionAkella
Hard to Be a GodBurut CTNobilis, Akella
Swashbucklers: Blue vs. GreyAkella1C Company
Empire Above AllIcehillAkella
Inhabited Island: The EarthlingStep Creative GroupAkella
Dead Mountaineer's HotelElectronic ParadiseAkella
2008Sakura Wars 2WindowsSega, Red EntertainmentAkella
2009A Stroke of Fate: Operation ValkyrieSPLineAkella
A Stroke of Fate: Operation BunkerSPLineAkella
Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned ShipsAkellaPlaylogic
PT Boats: Knights of the SeaAkellaBattlefront.com and Akella
2010Disciples III: RenaissanceWindows.dat [ru]Akella (CIS), Kalypso Media (EU, NA)
PT Boats: South GambitAkellaBattlefront.com, Akella
2011Disciples III: ResurrectionWindows.dat [ru]Akella (CIS), Kalypso Media (EU, NA)
Postal IIITrashmasters, Running with ScissorsAkella
2012 Disciples III: Reincarnation Windows hex Studio [ru] Akella (CIS), Kalypso Media (EU, NA)
Sea Dogs: To Each His OwnBlackMark StudioAkella

References

  1. ↑ Костин, Семён (3 April 2018). "Война Сакуры: как «Акелла» опередила весь мир — Аниме на DTF". DTF. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "PLAYER ONE". PLAYER ONE (in Russian). Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Roman Dorokhov (9 August 2012). "'Akella' finished: 200 million ruble lawsuits filed" (in Russian). Ведомости. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  4. ↑ Anastasia Alekseevskikh (14 June 2012). "Video game developer 'Akella' on the verge of bankruptcy" (in Russian). Маркер. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ликвидатор". Igromania. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Компания Акелла - игра Mad Tracks: Заводные Гонки" [Akella Company - Mad Tracks: Groovy Races game]. Akella (in Russian). 24 March 2006. Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2025.