AKA Paintball founder and chief engineer Larry Alexander has passed on. Larry was the brains behind the AKA Viking and AKA Excalibur paintball markers. In addition to building great paintball regulators, AKA was at one point responsible for building some of the fastest paintball guns in the business. AKA later was sued by Smart Parts for patent infringement (the infamous electronically controlled marker patent). Larry and AKA fought vigorously against the claims but ultimately lost and part of their agreement included discontinuing future development and production of electronic markers, effectively shuttering new business.
Elieen Alexander has posted a brief statement on the AKA website.
Larry Alexander passed away December 21, 2013 following a long illness. We appreciate the wishes and prayers of many of you during his illness.
We are still looking for someone who is interested in purchasing the AKA inventory and manufacturing rights as we can no longer support the manufacturing. In the meantime, we will continue to sell and ship our current assembled inventory.
Thank you all for being great customers and friends through the years.
Eileen Alexander