Moscow, Russian Federation. April 11, 2008 – Eastern European game publisher Akella announces the signing of a retail publishing deal with Valve to bring their upcoming cooperative survival horror game, Left 4 Dead, - to stores in Russia and CIS countries.
“Left 4 Dead is Valve’s attempt to fill gamers’ desire for a dynamic and engaging co-operative action experience,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “This has been validated by the press, who are calling it one of the most anticipated titles of the year. We will be working closely with Akella as we prepare the launch of Left 4 Dead in one of today’s fastest growing gaming markets”.
“Akella is thrilled to be able to bring this unique game to Russian speaking territories. We are very excited by all Valve’s games and pretty sure of huge success of this new cooperative shooter hit in Russia and CIS countries. ” said Vladimir Koudr, VP of Publishing at Akella, “Left 4 Dead is already highly expected throughout the world, and Russian FPS players are eager to play this game.”
The release is scheduled for Fall 2008 and planned to ship simultaneously all over the world.
About Left 4 Dead:
Left 4 Dead (L4D) is a new action title from Valve, creators of the Counter-Strike and Half-Life games, and promises to redefine the co-operative genre as those titles did for multiplayer and single player action games.
Set in a modern day survival-horror universe, the co-operative gameplay of L4D casts four “Survivors” in an epic struggle against hordes of swarming zombies and terrifying “Boss Infected” mutants.
Valve’s next generation AI technology, allows for games of 1 to 8 players. Players can play as a Survivor or as one of four types of “Boss Infected,” each of whom possess a unique mutant ability such as a 50-foot tongue lasso or a giant belly full of explosive methane gas.
The gameplay takes place across four massive campaigns. The “zombie” population of each mission is choreographed by an “AI Director” that monitors the human players’ actions and creates a unique and dramatic experience for them on the fly.
About Valve
Valve is an entertainment software and technology company founded in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington with offices in Irvine, CA. The company's portfolio of entertainment properties includes Half-Life®, Counter-Strike®, Day of Defeat®, Team Fortress®, PortalTM and Left 4 DeadTM. Valve’s catalog of products accounts for over 20 million retail units sold worldwide, and over 80% of PC online action gameplay. In addition, Valve is a developer of leading-edge technologies, such as the Source game engine and Steam, a broadband platform for the delivery and management of digital content. For more information, please visit www.valvesoftware.com.
About Akella:
Akella, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Moscow, Russia is a leading developer, publisher and distributor of computer games in Russia, CIS and Baltic countries.
To date, Akella has released more than 600 gaming, educational and developing titles. The biggest Russian localization studio is owned by Akella making the most complicated gaming products available for Russian consumers with high quality translation reliably delivered on deadline. Some of the most famous titles include the best-selling releases: Neverwinter Nights 2, the Prince of Persia series, MMORPG EverQuest II, Painkiller, Sacred, Fahrenheit, Test Drive Unlimited, Armed Assault and others.
In-house and co-development studios are currently creating around 60 games. These studios are engaged into developing a diverse lineup of products varying from cartoon-based children games to the biggest of brand titles (Postal 3 for Xbox 360 and PC; Disciples 3: Renaissance, Jagged Alliance 3 – for PC, and others).
Akella’s shareholders include Quadriga Capital (EBRD fund) and Intel Capital.
