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Despite a long history in the UK games industry, Akaei/On-Line has never achieved any of the upside that makes the development
and publishing model so attractive. The simple reason for this is that the vast majority of its titles to date have suffered from low production values and in such a hits-driven environment, a strategy that targets
the low end of the market very rarely produces a significant return on investment. The Company's original thin publishing model of licensing finished products reduces risk but, as the Company found during its FY01,
it is often the poorer quality titles that reach development completion without a European publisher/distribution agreement already in place. Those developers/publishers that do self-fund the development of a promising project attract the interest of the larger publishers at whose level Akaei will not be able to compete.
With the signing of external development deals for the Rangers and Celtic football management games, the Company has changed its model already as it intends to avoid the risky, hits-driven retail market and try
to sell direct to the clubs' fan bases. Despite the substantial size of these user bases, such a parochial distribution strategy is a relatively untried concept.
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