AKAM: SHADOWS OF ZAGROS
Press kit · https://studio.meroxis.com/press/

FACT SHEET
Title: AKAM: Shadows of Zagros
Developer: meroxis
Genre: First-person survival
Setting: Gelî Reş, a fictional valley in the Zagros mountains, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Engine: Unreal Engine 5 (5.8)
Status: In development
Release: Not yet announced: platforms, release date, price, store pages, modes, languages and age rating
Website: studio.meroxis.com
Press contact: To be announced

SHORT DESCRIPTION
A realistic first-person survival game set in the Zagros mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Cross the cordon, read the land, treat your wounds and get indoors before the Tide. Search for your brother, Jaffan. In development at meroxis.

LONG DESCRIPTION
AKAM: Shadows of Zagros is a realistic first-person survival game set in a fictional valley in the Zagros mountains of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Years ago an experiment at a secret research site buried under the mountain failed. A grey fog poured out of the gorge, villages emptied overnight, and a military cordon sealed the valley. The fog still returns. The people who live along the cordon call it the Tide.

Akam is a mountain guide from a village just outside the cordon. He knows every goat trail, cave and old smugglers’ path in these mountains. Two years ago his younger brother, Jaffan, went into the valley and never came back. Now, whenever the Tide rolls in, Akam’s old radio picks up Jaffan’s voice.

AKAM is built around weight and consequence. Bullets are simulated: they drop, slow down and lose energy, and armor stops some of them. Wounds land on one of seven body zones, and each injury needs its own treatment. There is no ammo counter and no crosshair. When the siren sounds and the sky turns copper, you have minutes to find shelter.

AKAM is in development at meroxis, an independent studio, in Unreal Engine 5. Everything shown on this site is captured in-engine from the current development build.

BOILERPLATE
meroxis is an independent game studio and the creator of AKAM: Shadows of Zagros, a realistic first-person survival game in development in Unreal Engine 5. More at studio.meroxis.com.

KEY FACTS
In the build today: Everything in this list is in the current development build.
- A fold-belt mountain valley about 6 km across, with a 2.8 km river, oak woodland and poplar rows.
- A stepped village of 43 flat-roofed houses, with life on the roofs.
- Simulated ballistics: drag, drop, a 100 m zero, armor classes and ricochet. No ammo counter, no crosshair.
- Seven body zones with bleeding, fractures and pain, each with its own treatment.
- The Tide: a recurring cycle of copper-sky warning, siren and surge. Shelter or take the dose.
- Layered sound: 10 surfaces underfoot, near-miss cracks and gunshot echoes off the ridges.

SCREENSHOTS (folder "screenshots")
river-eye-level.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  The river. Eye level in the shallow river, with poplars lining both banks. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Eye-level view up a shallow, clear mountain river: a mossy boulder in the water, poplar rows on both banks and bare brown ridges under a blue sky.
river-poplar-valley.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Poplars by the water. A shallow river runs between rows of poplars on the valley floor, with bare limestone ridges beyond. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: A shallow river winding between rows of tall poplars across a sunlit sandy valley floor, with steep bare mountains and white clouds behind.
river-pool.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  A river pool. A gravel-bedded pool beneath poplars and a limestone peak. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Clear river water over a gravel bed beside a sandy bank with dry grass, a row of poplars and a pale limestone peak in the distance.
river-braids-high.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Braided channels. From above, the river spreads into shallow braided channels between poplars. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: High view past a poplar onto a shallow river spreading across a wide gravel bed, with more poplars along the banks and dry ground beyond.
hamlet-steppe.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Steppe and ridge. Dry golden grass at the roadside, below a long folded ridge. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Low view through dry golden grass and weeds on bare earth toward a long folded limestone ridge under white clouds.
oak-scrub-steppe.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Oak on the foothills. Looking down on coppiced oak scattered across a dry golden slope. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Looking down on scattered clumps of dark green oak scrub across a dry, golden grassy slope.
zagros-river-riffle.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  A riffle. Clear water runs over cobbles and gravel bars below the poplars. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Low view across a shallow, clear river running over stones, with grey boulders on the near bank and grass tufts, dark shrubs and poplars on the far bank.
zagros-river-waterline.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Along the waterline. Looking upstream along the gravel margin, above the dry steppe. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Eye-level view along a river margin: rippling water on the left, stones and grass tufts along the edge, shrubs on a dusty bank, poplars and bare mountains ahead.
zagros-river-oblique.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  From the bank top. The channel falls steadily downstream, with shallow gravel terraces on the inside of the bends. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: High view down onto a shallow river with scattered boulders, a dusty bank with small shrubs, and a row of poplars along the far bank.
village-approach.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  The village on the hill. A stepped village of flat-roofed, whitewashed houses at the foot of an oak-dotted slope. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: A village of pale flat-roofed houses stepped up a foothill in rows, with dark oaks scattered across the golden slope above.
village-rooftops.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  On the roofs. Flat earth roofs and reed shade frames, with dry mountains in the distance. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Across flat earth roofs edged with timber beams: whitewashed walls, reed-roofed shade frames, a grain sack and bedding on a roof, and dry mountains in the distance.
village-roofs.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Rooftops. Flat earth roofs, one row below the next, each lived on. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Looking down over flat earth roofs edged with timber beams: plastic water tanks, a satellite dish, a clay jar, sacks and a straw-roofed shade, with oaks on the dry hillside beyond.
village-aerial.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  From above. A compact grid of flat-roofed houses and walled lanes on the dry steppe. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Aerial view of a compact village of flat-roofed houses and walled lanes on a dry golden slope dotted with oak scrub.
village-walls-detail.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Walls and beams. Whitewashed walls with timber framing and beam ends along a lane. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Whitewashed masonry walls, brick showing where the plaster has worn, with timber framing, small wooden windows and beam ends above a stone-edged lane.
village-row.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  The lower row. A row of village houses with shade frames on the roofs, below the oak slope. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: A long row of whitewashed village houses with timber shade frames on their flat roofs, at the foot of a slope dotted with oaks under a blue sky.
hamlet-houses.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Outlying houses. Small flat-roofed houses scattered across the open slope. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Small whitewashed flat-roofed houses with dark doorways scattered across a dry slope, with oak scrub on the hillside behind.
tide-siren.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  The siren. The civil-defense siren on its pole above the valley, silent between Tides. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: A weathered civil-defense siren on a tall pole seen from below, against a blue sky with clouds and the valley's brown ridges.
siren-head-detail.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Above the village. Between Tides, the siren stands silent over the village roofs on the oak slope. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: A weathered civil-defense siren on a metal pole above the corner of a flat roof, with oaks scattered across the dry hillside behind.
siren-between-houses.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  Between the houses. The siren pole rises behind a gap between village houses. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Two whitewashed timber-framed village houses with a narrow gap between them, and a siren pole on the oak-dotted slope behind.
siren-village-edge.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 900)
  At the village edge. A timber doorway in the foreground, and the siren beyond. In-engine capture, development build, 15 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: A dark timber-framed doorway in a whitewashed wall in the foreground, with a siren pole and village roofs on the slope beyond.
ui-inventory.jpg (JPEG, 1600 x 868)
  Field inventory. Work-in-progress field inventory: worn gear, a body map, the weapon card and the backpack grid. In-engine capture, development build, 14 Oct 2026.
  Alt text: Dark inventory screen in four columns: gear slots, a body silhouette with seven health zones, a field rifle card, and a backpack grid holding medical supplies, water and food.

LOGO (folder "logo")
akam-wordmark-bone.svg  Wordmark, light. SVG, vector, transparent.
akam-wordmark-ink.svg  Wordmark, dark. SVG, vector, transparent.
akam-monogram.svg  Monogram, gold on ink. SVG, vector, ink background.
akam-monogram-gold.svg  Monogram, gold. SVG, vector, transparent.
akam-wordmark-bone-2048.png  Wordmark, light. PNG, 2048 × 770, transparent.
akam-wordmark-ink-2048.png  Wordmark, dark. PNG, 2048 × 770, transparent.
akam-monogram-1024.png  Monogram, gold on ink. PNG, 1024 × 1024, ink background.

Usage terms will be published with the press contact.

ABOUT meroxis
meroxis is an independent game studio and the creator of AKAM: Shadows of Zagros, a realistic first-person survival game in development in Unreal Engine 5. More at studio.meroxis.com.

LEGAL
© 2026 meroxis. All rights reserved.
AKAM: Shadows of Zagros is in development. All places, characters and events in the game are fictional.
Screenshots and footage are captured in-engine from the development build and show work in progress.
Some environment, interface and sound assets are licensed from third parties. All rights remain with their respective owners.
Unreal and Unreal Engine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere.
This site sets no cookies, runs no analytics and loads nothing from third parties.
