My general thoughts is that Akito the Exiled is a lot like Macross Zero, in that the story being told, while interesting enough, was ill suited for this type of release format and schedule. I still really like Akane's directorial work, and there is plenty of things to like about this OVA series, but I think that it had failed in its stated goal here in helping to expand the Code Geass universe.
Come to think of it, I think that all the attempts to expand the Code Geass universe had been largely unsuccessful. There were some manga and novel releases following the show as well that I think never went anywhere post the ending, given how conclusive it was.
Can't disagree with the inherent weakness of the format and its scheduling issues, at least with respect to what Akane wanted to accomplish. The OVA certainly didn't become popular enough to make a lasting impact on most of the public, yet the future of the Code Geass property remains to be seen. In terms of additional in-universe expansions...we could still see them re-use a couple of concepts or elements introduced by Akito the Exiled, sooner or later, though I don't really expect the same cast of characters to be revisited.
We don't have any real figures for how the various (untranslated) manga and novel releases performed in Japan, but it's not exactly unusual for those formats to maintain a lower profile than the animated works. None of them are sequels to the original story though. But sales numbers for both the Akito the Exiled discs and the more recent re-releases of the original TV series suggest the brand still has an above average commercial appeal at this point. I think Sunrise will just take a step back for a while, attempt to bring in someone else and try again with either another TV series or a full-length movie of some sort. As a partially relevant comparison, Studie Nue didn't immediately give up on an entire IP right after the whole Macross II debacle. There are many other alternatives left for the studio, so they're not going to stop after making a single OVA series.
I think given the issues Code Geass has in general when it comes to writing and its own super duper happy ending, the Akito ending feels like it's oddly the most comparable with it lol
But there is one major difference: it really did feel like an appropriate ending for the TV series. After all, there was a higher cost, one way or another, for several characters.
