"Akella" may become bankrupt
One of the well-known Russian publishers, "Akella," may soon announce its bankruptcy. The reason, according to the company's vice president Vladimir Kudr, who gave an interview to the newspaper "Marker," is the inflexibility of the Shipbuilding Bank, which demanded that "Akella" return a loan of 151 million rubles. "— If we reach an agreement with the bank, everything will be fine," Mr. Kudr said. "Otherwise, we will solve the issue differently. We will figure it out." The article indicates that "figuring it out" means "filing for bankruptcy in arbitration."
Why the SB Bank is so sudden, "Marker" was unable to determine — bank representatives stated that they do not provide information regarding overdue debts (although... that is already a response). "Akella" has no means to pay. "Starting from 2008, we have had zero results — neither losses nor profits. Plus or minus zero," Mr. Kudr said. "We have projects, but they can only start in the long term (2–3 years). During this year, we have no projects that will yield profit. Current products are being released in the background and do not provide revolutionary leaps." Since 2008, the staff count of "Akella" has decreased fivefold (from 250 people to a few dozen); the company has only one office left.
The main reason for the decline of "Akella"'s business, according to its vice president, is that the company's management did not respond to trends: the growth of mobile and browser game sectors, the contraction of the retail market while the share of console games within it is growing, and the development of digital distribution. High-speed Internet, according to Vladimir Kudr, harms retail-oriented publishers in two ways: customers can either buy a game at home instead of going to the store or steal it at home. The final word comes from Sergey Orlovsky, president and founder of Nival Interactive, whom "Marker" asked for expert commentary: "In our industry, you need to run very fast to stand still, let alone not regress. If you don’t run fast enough, problems begin. So everything is quite logical."