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I read Ken Williams' book and found it meh. I'm fascinated by that era (after having read Steven Levi's account in his own book, "Hackers") but Ken didn't strike me as a particularly compelling narrator/person.

I came away kind of sickened by the "corporatization" of art (and I think game development is a kind of art when it's at its best). Budgets, deadlines... Gross.

Wild window in time though that was.

Old Man Murray wrote a great peace in 2000 about who killed adventure games, the answer to which I won't spoil since it's an easy read:

https://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html

Jimmy Maher is really a great history writer. The way he writes is very compelling. He made a whole history of windows which I somehow read through completely[0].

I can also recommend his other site, Analog Antiquarian[1] where he writes more about the larger history. His Magellan series that's going on now is really amazing, makes you feel like you're really experiencing the epic voyage through South America and South East Asia.

[0] https://www.filfre.net/2018/06/doing-windows-part-1-ms-dos-a...

[1] https://analog-antiquarian.net/

A lesson for the ages: that cultured (or not) rich person over there isn't any more intelligent or prescient than your neighbour or colleague, and most certainly no more than your partner. They just have more money.

Sierra was responsible for creating two of my favorite games of all time - King's Quest VI (designed by Roberta Williams / Jane Jensen) and Conquests of the Longbow (designed by Christy Marx).

It's such a contrast then to read (what I find profoundly distasteful) quotes like this from the other side of the company. Ken Williams: "I read books about business executives who owned yachts and jets, and who hung out with beautiful models in fancy mansions. I knew that was my future and I couldn’t wait to claim it.".

It's a tragedy Ken Williams managed to overrule nearly everyone familiar with Sierra (including his wife) opposed to the acquisition by CUC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUC_International

> Forbes first became associated with Sierra in 1991, when he agreed to join the company’s board. Ken Williams, Sierra’s co-founder and CEO, considered this a major coup...

And then:

> “Have you and Ken ever thought about selling Sierra?” <Forbes> asked her out of the blue one day in the lobby of the Paris hotel.

> “No,” Roberta answered shortly. “We’re not interested.”

> “But if you ever were, what sort of price would you be looking at?”

> “A lot,” Roberta replied, then walked away as quickly as decorum allowed.

Pretty clear which of the two was the better business person.

It's important to remember that the deal was audited by Ernst&Young and they didn't notice the hundreds of millions missing from the balance sheet.

EY later settled in court at 300 million but never admitted any wrongdoing. So much for the reputation of the "big four" which at the time was still known as "big five".

With the IP now owned my Microsoft, I have some hope that Phil Spencer will revive and modernise Sierra.

Am I dreaming?

If you're feeling dejavu reading this article like I was, you might have read this previous piece on Vice [0] four years ago which also drew on Ken William's book, including many of the same quotes. It was discussed here as well [1].

0: https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-story-sierra-online-d...

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24941667

“KEN SENT ME”

Ken's book is good BTW. I recommend it if you are interested in this subject.

Aren't we primarily talking about adventure games here? That is, games that nobody played after the nineties?If they weren't acquired they certainly would have modernized, of course. I can't help but think they were in deep trouble even without the failed merger.

People don't strictly want to play games as much as they want to experience alternate realities. That's why Doom/Quake resonated. People want these simulations to be as realistic as possible.

The business side of things with sierra is certainly spectacular. But the story of the characters making the games would be so much more interesting. Where did the humor come from? What was office live? How come the games were both topsellers and also extremly silly? I remeber a space quest scene where a room full of computers was a joke on sierra offices. How did that make it into the final product?

Who else grew up playing 3-D Ultra Lionel Train Town Deluxe?

Still works on windows, still fun.

I only know Sierra because they published Half-life. P&C adventure games were already dying in 1998.

The part that really got me was him packing up and leaving with no fanfare, no goodbye, nothing. Like, this guy built Sierra from nothing. And it ends with him slipping out the back door.