Akella

Background
Akella was a Russian software company specializing in the development, publishing and distribution of video games and multimedia products. Formed in 1995 and named after the Jungle Book character Akela, the company comprised five in-house development teams, a publishing house, a distribution center, a localization team and a quality assurance department; in total, 250 people were employed by Akella.

By 2012, the company faced multiple lawsuits totaling $6 million, that combined with the significant developmental difficulties and commercial failings of the Running With Scissors game Postal III pushed Akella into bankruptcy.

1st Logo (October 2000)


Visuals: A starfield is seen expanding into the screen. The stars move, and a constellation fades in, zooming out as some of the stars spin around to surround it, and then the constellation wipes into a drawing of a wolf, which is enclosed into a square. Below it is the word "AKELLA". The glow behind the logo fades out. The starfield background irises out, as the wolf logo fades away and the name moves into the center in a "rollercoaster" fashion, as the URL domains "www." and ".com" slide into the sides of the word. The domains then zoom away and the "AKELLA" text blurs out.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic brass-dominant fanfare.

Availability: Seen on Sea Dogs.

2nd Logo (Mid 2000s-December 21, 2011)
Visuals: A yellow light appears to the center and blurs in the Akella logomark, which zooms in. This time, the square is filled yellow and the wolf is drawn like a sketch, and the word "Akella" seems to be on a rough font. The light vanishes and the logo fades out.

Variant: On earlier games like Hard to be a God, the "Akella" text and the logomark zoom out. The logo's shadow is seen on an illuminated wood background.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A bassy synth pad combined with an ethereal synth bell.

Availability: Seen on their more recent games.