Network now...FEATURE
Why Sierra Must Die
A colorful past
Calif.-based Sierra On-Line took root in the late 1970s as "On-line Systems." The first game from the company (Ken was the programmer, Roberta was the storyteller/designer) was 1980's Mystery House, a monochrome adventure game for Apple II inspired by the MIT-developed text-based game Adventure. Mystery House is regarded as the first graphical adventure game; text now had a welcome sidekick to help with storytelling.
Following the release of subsequent Sierra On-Line adventure games, IBM saw the buzz that these new graphical adventures had generated. The computer manufacturer saw a potential investment opportunity, one that would bring about one of the most revered adventure franchises of all time.
IBM gave Sierra the funds to create a game that would show off the capabilities of its PCjr. From that deal came King's Quest, an all-color adventure game that allowed freedom of movement like no game before. The Kingdom of Daventry was born, and the game would see seven sequels.
The original King's Quest eventually found enough success to warrant other 'Quests: Space Quest, Police Quest, EcoQuest. The original 40-Year-Old-Virgin, Leisure Suit Larry, arrived in an adult-oriented comic adventure.
Sierra acquired Red Baron development house Dynamix and a list of other firms, staff and office space was expanding, business was booming.
But the roaring late 80s and early 90s would soon take a turn, as the mid-90s that saw the downfall of Sierra. The definitive turning point was in 1996, which saw the sale of of Sierra to CUC International, whose execs, on top of axing hundreds of Sierra employees, were later found guilty of accounting fraud. CUC management did jail time, Sierra's spirit was irreparable.
Then Vivendi bought Sierra in 1998.
What happened to Sierra is much like what has happened to Atari, another name once hailed by gamers that has lost all meaning, and has been driven into the ground by careless custodians. We all knew that Sierra had little to do with the Activision Blizzard merger deal, so we're not surprised the new megapublisher is now looking to drop the storied label. "Sierra" means nothing anymore anyway. So just let it rest in peace.
Williams, again exhibiting his disengagement with the brand, concluded, "I don't know enough [about Sierra Entertainment] to know if [killing off the brand] is a good thing or a bad thing, but I hope it is a good thing."
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Perhaps Ken Williams was not the best candidate to comment??? Of course he's detatched - Williams gave up, got paid and walked away. I have much more interest in what Al Lowe, Jim Walls, Mark Crowe or Scott Murphy might think about this whole situation. Mention 'Sierra' to anyone on the street (old enough to remember) and it's typically Al Lowe's series that comes up, not Roberta's. The Williams may have started Sierra, but it was people like Al Lowe that made it worth remembering.
I entirely disagree with you there.
I never really liked Al Lowe's games, and Much preferred the work of the Coles, Williams, and Jensen. And most of the people I speak to about sierra games are usually on the same level as me ( Quest for Glory, or Kings Quest fans, Occasionally Gabriel Knight ).
For me Sierra has become a bit like the old family dog. What I mean to say is that there are plenty of happy memories from more youthful days but that was a long time ago. All it seems to do now is sleep by the radiatior and has started to smell. When things become this lifeless it's time to call the vet that one last time...
I'm yet another whose gaming childhood was filled with sierra and lucasarts adventure games. And although yes, it will be sad to see Sierra go the way of the Dodo, in my opinion sierra hasn't really been itself for a while. A company appears to be defined by the content they produce. To me, "Sierra" meant Quest for Glory, Laura Bow, Gabriel Knight - Just in the same way that Lucasarts meant Monkey island and Grim Fandango. As soon as they started moving towards the Quest for Glory 5's and the Kings Quest 8's, I had a feeling that my favourite genre, and my beloved Sierra was on the way out. And although it's been around in one form or another for quite some time now - in my mind, "my" Sierra died a long time ago.
There have been glimmers of hope here and there ( Brutal Legend anyone ? ), however even those, I thought of as a separate company making a good choice.
It would be awesome if a company / designer managed to aquire the rights to some of the games ( Personally, I'd love another Laura Bow, Gabriel Knight and Quest for Glory - Just don't make them too rubbishy, please ).
I respect the efforts of those inside the company trying to show that the company still has a heart, but I believe a formal funeral is what the legendary company deserves.
The same could and has been said about Atari. It'll be interesting to see which direction that company takes compared to Sierra's eventual demise.
Actually, the Sierra brand should have died when Vivendi first killed it. Having also been at Vivendi until just recently...the "new" branding of Sierra never made sense since Vivendi went to great lengths to dissolve the brand a couple of years prior. Essentially, the Sierra brand died when Vivendi bought it and recycling it to try to create a stronger brand identity was borne out of a lack of creativity as opposed to a desire to bring the Sierra label back to glory.
I worked at Sierra up until recently (a victim of the merger), and reading a story like this kind of chaps my hide. In my time there, I did everything in my power to bring Sierra back to the glory days; back to a company that was know for quality games. I believe we were on the right track to do that before the merger. It bothers me to hear the respected designers of Sierra's golden age say the company has no soul now, and that we just "slap" the label on the box. Well if Sierra has no soul it's because it was sold it to the devil with the most money, instead of looking for a buyer that would continue the legacy. In fact, Sierra does have a soul. As I'm sure it was back in the early days, the soul of Sierra is the people that work there, and most of them wanted to make the label "mean something" again.
I mean no disrespect to Ken, Roberta, Al, or any of the people from the Oakhurst days; I love those guys; they made Sierra a name I want to save. I'm just sick of getting bad mouthed for not being what they were. I agree that the Sierra of today is not the same Sierra it used to be, but that is mainly because it's not an independent company anymore; and that's not my fault. Games are big business now, and companies like CUC, Havas, and Vivendi want a piece of the pie chart. I truly hope someone buys Sierra and it's IPs from Activision Blizzard and continues the attempt to try and make it "real" again. I want Sierra to LIVE!
Good to hear from someone that has worked at Sierra recently. I imagine that you aren't the only Sierra person whose hide was "chapped" by this article. But as I alluded to, Sierra Entertainment's studios are strong and have plenty of talent--enough to make a bigger name for themselves beyond the Sierra brand. And as for the publishing strategy at Sierra... I mean, if a company goes to publish something cool and unique like Brutal Legend, the people running it must have some kind of an idea of what gamers want. Of course, I'm interested to see how Ghostbusters turns out too, just like everyone else.
I got an e-mail from another old-school Sierra fan who agreed with the article. His take was "put the name to rest and stop the molestation of my child within." Interesting metaphor.
That'd be great if someone bought Sierra and its IPs from ActiBlizz. But the buyer would have to be as passionate as the fans and the Sierra originators were. We've seen what happens when one of these classic Sierra IPs are "resurrected" (the Al Lowe-less Leisure Suit Larry: MCL comes to mind--some people liked it, but not my cup of tea).
What is interesting though is that Ken Williams himself had thought about getting back in the business, saying the best way to go about it would be to buy Sierra and its trademarks. (http://www.sierragamers.com/aspx/m/-8498/parm1/tid/parm2/52460)
Thing is, he's too busy boating with Roberta.
My gaming childhood was literally defined by LucasArts and Sierra. I didn't play Mario. I played Zork, and Maniac Mansion, and Kings Quest. The Sierra logo and the accompanying sound is one of the most vibrant instances of nostalgia I have. Kings Quest 8 was the end for me. The last great adventure game I remember playing all through was The Dig. I never finished Grim Fandango or the most recent Monkey Island.