. (1996–2008). (2008)WebsiteSierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American. Founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems, by and, Sierra is known primarily for its series such as, and.Sierra On-Line was acquired by in February 1996 and became part of CUC International's newly established (sold and renamed multiple times until becoming in 2006). In June 2004, after months of significant downsizing and restructuring at the company, Sierra Entertainment was disestablished as a company in August that year. Sierra continued to operate as a of Vivendi Games through June 2008, when Vivendi Games merged with and formed, with Sierra becoming part of Activision Blizzard's Activision subsidiary, though shut down later that year.

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The 'Sierra' brand name was revived by Activision in 2014 to re-release former Sierra games and some independently-developed games. Original On-Line Systems logoSierra Entertainment was founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems in,. Ken Williams, a programmer for, bought an microcomputer which he planned to use to develop a for the Apple II. At the time, his wife Roberta Williams was playing on the Apple II.

Dissatisfied with the text-only format, she realized that the graphics display capability of the Apple II could enhance the adventure gaming experience. After initial success, On-Line Systems was renamed Sierra On-Line in 1982, and the company moved to. The 'Sierra' name was taken from the that Oakhurst was located next to. By early 1984 InfoWorld estimated that Sierra was the world's 12th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $12.5 million in 1983 sales. 1980s In 1980, On-Line Systems released the first game in its Hi-Res Adventure series,. Roberta Williams wrote the script for the in three weeks; she then presented the script to Ken Williams and convinced him to help her develop the game in the evenings after work.

Using an and a VersaWriter drawing tablet, she worked on the text and graphics and told Ken how to develop the game she wanted. The project took about three months and, on May 5, 1980, Mystery House was ready for shipment. It was an instant hit with about 15,000 copies sold, earning US$167,000 (equivalent to $507,812 in 2018). It is the first computer adventure game to have graphics, although made with crude, static, monochrome line drawings.The Hi-Res Adventure series continued with, which was released as Hi-Res Adventure #0 though being the second release. The next release, also known as Adventure in Serenia, is considered a prelude to the later King's Quest series in both story and concept. Through 1981 and 1982, more games were released in the series including,.

A simplified version of The Dark Crystal, intended for a younger audience, was written by and released as Gelfling Adventure.The company weathered the by seeing only a 20% increase in sales, after analysts in 1982 had predicted a doubling in 1983 of the entire software market. The company had spent much of 1983 developing for a Commodore machine and the which were both obsolete by the end of the year. Ken Williams was reportedly described as 'bewildered by the pace at which computers come into and fall out of favor', and Williams said, 'I've learned my lesson.

I'm not moving until I understand the market better.' Many of Sierra's most well known series began in the 1980s. In 1983, Sierra On-Line was contacted by IBM to create a game for the new. IBM offered to fund the entire development and marketing of the game, paying royalties. Ken and Roberta Williams accepted and started on the project. Roberta Williams created a story featuring classic fairy-tale elements.

Her game concept includes animated color graphics, a pseudo 3D-perspective where the main character is visible on the screen, a more competent text parser that understands advanced commands from the player, and music playing in the background through the PCjr sound hardware. For the game, a complete development system called (AGI) was developed. In mid-1984, was released to much acclaim, beginning the series.While working to finish, programmers and began to plan for an adventure game of their own. After a simple demonstration to Ken Williams, he allowed them to start working on the full game, which was named. The game was released in October 1986 as an instant success, spawning many sequels in the series in the following years., who had been working at Sierra On-Line for many years, was asked by Ken Williams to write a modern version of 's from 1981, the only pure text adventure that the company had ever released. Was a great hit and won the 's Best Adventure Game award of 1987.

It can be deduced that the game first became famous as an early example of software piracy, as Sierra sold many more hintbooks than actual copies of the game. A series of games followed.Ken Williams befriended a retired highway patrol officer named and asked him to produce an adventure series based on a police theme. Walls proceeded to create, which was released in 1987. Several sequels followed, and was touted for adherence to police protocol (relevant parts of which were explained in the games' manuals), and presenting some real-life situations encountered by Walls during his career as an officer.is a series of hybrid adventure/role-playing video games designed by Corey.

The first game in the series, was released in 1989. The series combines humor, puzzle elements, themes and characters borrowed from various legends, puns, and memorable characters, creating a five-part series of the Sierra stable. Although the series was originally titled Hero's Quest, Sierra failed to trademark the name.

Milton Bradley successfully trademarked an electronic version of their unrelated joint Games Workshop board game, which forced Sierra to change the series' title to Quest for Glory. This decision caused all future games in the series (as well as newer releases of Hero's Quest I) to switch over to the new name.In 1987, Sierra On-Line started to publish its own gaming magazine, about its upcoming games and interviews with the developers. The magazine was initially named The Sierra Newsletter, The Sierra News Magazine, and The Sierra/Dynamix Newsmagazine. However, since already published a magazine called Sierra Magazine, the name of the magazine published by Sierra On-Line was changed to InterAction in 1991. It was discontinued in 1999.Sierra's Adventure Game Interpreter engine, introduced with King's Quest, was replaced in 1988 with Sierra's Creative Interpreter in King's Quest IV. The game was released under both engines, so those who had newer computers could use the new engine and better rendering technology. 1990s In 1990, Sierra released, the first Sierra On-Line game ever to have more than 500,000 copies sold and the highest selling game for five years.

It won several awards, such as the Best Adventure Game of the Year from both the and magazine.The ImagiNation Network, the first game-only online environment, began development in 1989. The game was launched on May 6, 1991, as the. Providing a 'land-based' precursor to MMORPGs and internet chat rooms, each land theme for the type of content provided multi-player gaming and category based bulletin boards and chat rooms throughout the continental United States.

Took sole possession of the network on November 15, 1994, and as a result the name was changed to the ImagiNation Network. The network failed to find a mass audience.In 1991, Sierra released the first game in the series, a hybrid puzzle adventure education game, which has several sequels. In 1993, was released, beginning the series. The game and subsequent sequels were critically acclaimed in the mainstream press at the time.Sierra and ended merger discussions in March 1991.Sierra needed a new building due to growth, and moved its headquarters to. Sierra's original location in Oakhurst continued as an internal development studio for the company and was later renamed Yosemite Entertainment. The company was now made up of five separate and largely autonomous development divisions: Sierra Publishing, Sierra Northwest, and, with each group working separately on product development but sharing manufacturing, distribution, and sales resources.1995 was a successful year for the company. Sierra was the market-share leader in PC games for the year.

With $83.4 million in sales from software-publishing, earnings improved by 19 percent, and a net income of $11.9 million. In June, Sierra and signed an agreement to create a joint venture that would develop, publish, manufacture, and market entertainment software for the Japanese software market. This joint venture created a new company called Sierra Venture. With Sierra and Pioneer investing over $12 million, the new company immediately manufactured and shipped over twenty of Sierra's most popular products to Japan and created new titles for the Japanese market. 1995 also saw Sierra acquiring a number of development companies, both small home developers and larger companies.was by far the largest project ever undertaken by Sierra.

The anticipation for the game was high at release in late 1995. Although nearly one million copies were sold when the game was first released in August 1995, Sierra bestselling adventure game created, the game received mixed reviews from industry critics. Sold to CUC In February 1996, early e-commerce pioneer, seeking to expand into interactive entertainment, offered to buy Sierra at a price of about $1.5 billion.

, the CEO of CUC International, and a member of Sierra's own Board of Directors since 1991, surprised Ken Williams with the deal after a board meeting. After negotiating terms which Ken Williams believed would be in best interest for Sierra's future, the deal with CUC closed on July 24, 1996. Among the terms included that Ken Williams would be named a Vice-Chairman of CUC International, a Member of the Office of the President of CUC, and would remain responsible for Sierra's R&D as well as remaining Sierra's CEO. He also requested that a 'software board' be created.

The board consisted of him, Michael Brochu (Sierra's President and COO), Bob Davidson (founder and CEO of ), and Forbes. It functioned as a governing body of what would become CUC Software, regulating major decisions and product lines.In September 1996, CUC announced plans to consolidate some functions of their game companies into a single company called CUC Software Inc., headquartered in.

Bob Davidson, founder and CEO of Davidson & Associates became the CEO for the publishing body. The Sierra logo used by Activision as a publishing label and brand name.On August 7, 2014, the website for Sierra, which previously redirected to Activision's website, was updated, showcasing a new logo, teasing: 'More to be revealed at 2014.' Activision confirmed that the Sierra label will re-release some of their older games, re-imagining their older franchises, as well as collaborate with indie studios to create new 'innovative, edgy and graphically unique' projects.

Sierra will focus on publishing downloadable games through PlayStation Network, Steam for PC and Xbox Live. 'We're very proud of what we created all those years ago with Sierra On-Line, and today's news about carrying Sierra forward as an indie-specific brand is very encouraging,' said founder Ken in an official statement. 'We look forward to seeing Sierra's independent spirit live on.' On the same day, and were announced; they were the first two games published under the revived Sierra brand. On December 5, 2014, they were awarded with the 'Industry Icon' award during the 2014, and they also introduced the first footage from the reboot of King's Quest.In August 2018, acquired the domain sierra.com from Activision.

TJX subsequently shortened the name of 'Sierra Trading Post' to. Wolf, Mark J. Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming, Volume 2. P. 573. Levy, Stephen (1984).

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