Ken Williams (2)

I grew up playing Sierra On-Line computer games. Reading Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings, which is Ken William's insider recollections of the rise and fall of the company that he and his wife Roberta founded, reminded me of how much I felt connected to it all. They had their quarterly fan magazine, their catalog, and the game designers themselves seemed like people you'd want to hang out with—it felt like I was part of their family, and I suppose in a sense that was true given how Ken Williams prioritized the marketing of their brand to its customers. I was 10 years old and I distinctly remember playing Space Quest, King's Quest and Police Quest and wanting to be a game designer when I grew up.

But time passed and I paid less attention to what was happening at Sierra. I was in my 20's when I learned of their demise which would have been several years after it happened. Years earlier I recall being excited to play the forthcoming Space Quest 7 game which was in production at the time⁠—there was even a short teaser video promoting it⁠—but then *poof* a long silence and then it was quietly cancelled. Years later I would learn the truth.

Reading the details in Ken Williams' book of how Sierra went from boom to bust sounds like a capitalist's jungle nightmare. The strong forces prey on the weak and far too often a good thing never lasts despite everyone's best efforts. It's heartbreaking to think about, but nearly all of my memories of Sierra On-Line are good ones and I will always have that.… (meer)