Ken Williams (game developer)

Last updated

Ken Williams
Ken Williams, GDC 2022 (cropped).jpg
Williams in 2022
Born (1954-10-30) October 30, 1954 (age 70)
Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Occupation(s)Businessman, game programmer
Spouse
​
(m. 1972)​
Children2
Website kensblog.com

Kenneth A. Williams (born October 30, 1954) is an American businessman and game programmer who co-founded On-Line Systems together with his wife Roberta Williams. On-Line Systems eventually became Sierra On-Line and was ultimately renamed Sierra Entertainment. The couple were leading figures in the development of graphical adventure games. At its height, Sierra employed nearly 1,000 people prior to its acquisition in 1996.

Contents

History

Early years

Williams was born on October 30, 1954, in Evansville, Indiana [1] but later grew up in Simi Valley, California. Ken and Roberta's early contributions to the computer game industry were partially chronicled in the book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution . He wrote the textbook Apple II Computer Graphics, [2] and articles for Softline . [3]

Sierra On-Line

Williams addressing a crowd at a celebration of the On-Line Systems' first anniversary in 1981. Ken with his "spellbound" audience - On-Line Systems first anniversary celebration.jpg
Williams addressing a crowd at a celebration of the On-Line Systems' first anniversary in 1981.

Williams and wife Roberta co-founded On-Line Systems in 1979. Sierra's notable online service, the ImagiNation Network, was purchased by AT&T in 1994. [4] Ken Williams served as the president of Sierra until July 1996, when the company was sold to CUC International. He stayed on to guide its strategic direction until November 1997.

In his role as Sierra's CEO, Williams focused on innovation: "I'm not sure how typical I am of other CEOs ...most of my time is spent looking at product ... To me, everything is about being able to build awesome product ... Any game which does not push the state of the art leaves an opportunity for a competitor's game to look better." [5]

In Sierra's later years, the company's focus had shifted to publishing many titles from other studios, including Valve's Half-Life . Commenting on first-person shooters, Williams recalls, "By the time I decided we wanted into the genre, we were too far behind. With 20/20 hindsight, I blew it when I had the chance to buy id and didn't ... Valve was the first group I had spoken with that could put Sierra in front of id." [6]

In 1992, Williams advocated for a software rating system akin to that of the movie industry. This preceded the establishment of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which was set up in response to concerns over violent and sexually explicit video games. [7]

In 2014, Ken and Roberta were honored with the Game Awards inaugural Industry Icons award.

Williams has cited Microsoft and The Walt Disney Company as influencing Sierra's business model. "These two companies were our role models. I read every book written on both companies. I did everything to try to understand how they thought, and how they did business." [8] Microsoft currently owns the Sierra brand and its intellectual property, following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023. [9]

Recent years

Ken Williams at a celebration of On-Line Systems' first anniversary, 1981 Ken Williams (cropped) - On-Line Systems first anniversary celebration.jpg
Ken Williams at a celebration of On-Line Systems' first anniversary, 1981

After a spell of being inactive in the computer game industry, in 2022, it was reported that he was currently working with his wife Roberta on a new VR and flatscreen version of Colossal Cave 3D Adventure, a redux of the text-adventure title from 1977. [10] Prior to this, he had focused on writing and managing a Web site construction tool called Talkspot, [11] which aims to redefine how small businesses communicate with their customers on the Internet. He has published three books on boating, talking about his worldwide cruising along with his wife Roberta on their 68-foot Nordhavn trawler. In addition, he publishes a blog about cruising, Ken's Blog, [12] and his years at Sierra, Sierra Gamers. His memoir, Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings: The Rise and Fall of Sierra On-Line , was released on July 24, 2020. [13]

In June 2021, Williams has announced he and Roberta have been working on the game The Secret, in collaboration with artist Marcus Maximus Mera. [14]

Depictions

Williams's trademarks have been his mustache and hair. His appearance has inspired Sierra's designers for some sprites, honoring Williams with cameo appearances in some games. One of these "incarnations" is the chief Keneewauwau of the Nontoonyt natives and Williams, the annoying joke teller (both appearing in Leisure Suit Larry games), as well as a whipper of "ScumSoft" in Space Quest III , and Kenny the Kid in Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist .

Personal life

Ken married Roberta Williams at the age of 19. They have two children, D.J. (born 1973) and Chris (born 1979). The Williams family has homes in Seattle, France, and Mexico. [15]

Games programmed

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of Interactive narratives or Interactive narrations. These works can also be understood as a form of video game, either in the form of an adventure game or role-playing game. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be "text-only", however, graphical text adventure games, where the text is accompanied by graphics still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is by typing text. Some users of the term distinguish between interactive fiction, known as "Puzzle-free", that focuses on narrative, and "text adventures" that focus on puzzles.

Sierra Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, including the first such game, Mystery House. It is known for its graphical adventure game series King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, and Quest for Glory, and as the original publisher of Valve's Half-Life series.

<i>Kings Quest</i> Video game series

King's Quest is a graphic adventure game series, released between 1980 and 2016 and created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installments, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation of Sierra. Roberta Williams, co-founder and former co-owner of Sierra, designed all of the King's Quest games until the series' reboot in 2015.

<i>Colossal Cave Adventure</i> 1976 video game

Colossal Cave Adventure is a text-based adventure game, released in 1976 by developer Will Crowther for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. It was expanded upon in 1977 by Don Woods. In the game, the player explores a cave system rumored to be filled with treasure and gold. The game is composed of dozens of locations, and the player moves between these locations and interacts with objects in them by typing one- or two-word commands which are interpreted by the game's natural language input system. The program acts as a narrator, describing the player's location and the results of the player's attempted actions. It is the first well-known example of interactive fiction, as well as the first well-known adventure game, for which it was also the namesake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberta Williams</span> American video game designer (born 1953)

Roberta Lynn Williams is an American video game designer and writer, who co-founded Sierra On-Line with her husband, game developer Ken Williams. In 1980, her first game, Mystery House, became a modest commercial success; it is credited as the first graphic adventure game. She is also known for creating and maintaining the King's Quest series, as well as designing the full motion video game Phantasmagoria in 1995.

The Adventure Game Interpreter (AGI) is a game engine developed by Sierra On-Line. The company originally developed the engine for King's Quest (1984), an adventure game that Sierra and IBM wished to market in order to attract consumers to IBM's lower-cost home computer, the IBM PCjr.

<i>Softporn Adventure</i> 1981 video game

Softporn Adventure is a comedic, adult-oriented text adventure game produced for the Apple II in 1981. The game was created by Charles Benton and released by On-Line Systems, later renamed Sierra On-Line. Years later, Softporn Adventure was remade and expanded as Leisure Suit Larry series of adult-oriented video games, and the first entry in that series, 1987's Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, was a nearly direct graphical adaptation of Softporn Adventure. Another graphical version was released as Las Vegas for various Japanese computers in 1986 by Starcraft.

<i>Mystery House</i> 1980 video game

Mystery House is an adventure game released by On-Line Systems in 1980. It was designed, written and illustrated by Roberta Williams, and programmed by Ken Williams for the Apple II. Mystery House is the first graphical adventure game and the first game produced by On-Line Systems, the company which would evolve into Sierra On-Line. It is one of the earliest horror video games.

<i>Kings Quest I</i> 1984 video game

King's Quest: Quest for the Crown is an adventure game developed by Sierra On-Line and published originally for the IBM PCjr in 1984 and later for several other systems between 1984 and 1989. The game was originally titled King's Quest; the subtitle was added to the games box art in the 1987 re-release, but did not appear in the game.

<i>Kings Quest IV</i> 1988 video game

King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella is a graphic adventure game developed by Sierra On-Line for the MS-DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, and Atari ST computers and released in 1988. The player takes on the role of Princess Rosella, daughter of King Graham of Daventry and the twin sister of Gwydion/Alexander, who must save her father and a good fairy and destroy an evil witch. Critically acclaimed, it was one of the first games for IBM PC compatibles to support a sound card.

<i>Kings Quest VI</i> 1992 video game

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a point-and-click adventure game, first released in 1992 as the sixth installment in the King's Quest series produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie and professional voice acting. King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.

<i>Phantasmagoria</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Phantasmagoria is a point-and-click adventure horror video game designed by Roberta Williams for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows and released by Sierra On-Line on August 24, 1995. It tells the story of Adrienne Delaney, a writer who moves into a remote mansion and finds herself terrorized by supernatural forces. It was made at the peak of popularity for interactive movie games and features live-action actors and footage, both during cinematic scenes and within the three-dimensionally rendered environments of the game itself. It was noted for its violence and sexual content.

<i>Mixed-Up Mother Goose</i> 1987 video game

Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose is an educational adventure game released by Sierra On-Line in 1987. It was the first multimedia game released on CD-ROM in 1991. A second game in the series, Mixed-Up Fairy Tales, was released in 1991.

<i>Torins Passage</i> 1995 video game

Torin's Passage is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1995. The game was designed by Al Lowe, author of the Leisure Suit Larry series.

<i>The Dark Crystal</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Hi-Res Adventure #6: The Dark Crystal is a graphic adventure game based on Jim Henson's 1982 fantasy film, The Dark Crystal. The game was designed by Roberta Williams and was the first Hi-Res Adventure directly released under the SierraVenture label in 1983. Versions were published for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. An alternate version of the game intended for younger players called Gelfling Adventure was released in 1984.

<i>Space Quest III</i> 1989 video game

Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon is a 1989 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line, and the third game in the Space Quest series. Players assume the role of Roger Wilco, a lowly space janitor, who becomes involved in rescuing a pair of computer programmers from a sinister video game company. The game received positive reviews from critics, and contributed further to the series' commercial success for Sierra. A sequel, Space Quest IV, was released in 1991.

<i>Prisoner 2</i> 1982 video game

The Prisoner 2 is a video game published in 1982 by Edu-Ware. It is a remake of the 1980 game The Prisoner.

<i>Wizard and the Princess</i> 1980 video game

Wizard and the Princess is a graphic adventure game written for the Apple II and published in 1980 by On-Line Systems. It is the second installment in the Hi-Res Adventures series after Mystery House. Unlike its predecessor, which featured monochrome drawings, Wizard and the Princess introduced color graphics. Ports for the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 were released in 1982 and 1984 respectively. The 1982 self-booting disk version for IBM PC compatibles was renamed Adventure in Serenia.

An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, such as literature and film, encompassing a wide variety of genres. Most adventure games are designed for a single player, since the emphasis on story and character makes multiplayer design difficult. Colossal Cave Adventure is identified by Rick Adams as the first such adventure game, first released in 1976, while other notable adventure game series include Zork, King's Quest, Monkey Island, Syberia, and Myst.

<i>Kings Quest: Mask of Eternity</i> 1998 video game

King's Quest: Mask of Eternity is a hybrid point-and-click adventure and action-adventure video game developed and published by Sierra Studios in 1998. It was the eighth official game in the King's Quest series, the first and only game in the main series where the main character is neither King Graham nor a member of his family, as well as the first in the series to use a full 3D engine as opposed to the 2D cartoon or pixel style of the earlier games and the first to omit the sequel numbering system on box artwork and title screen.

References

  1. ↑ Williams, Ken; Kernaghan, Bob; Kernaghan, Lisa; Paul Steffen, Gregory (1983). Apple II Computer Graphics. Bowie, MD: R.J. Brady Co. ISBN   0893033154. OCLC   9465136.
  2. ↑ Williams, Ken (September 1981). "Apple II Graphics: An Inside Look". Softline. p. 8. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  3. ↑ "AT&T Buys On-line Service, Opens New Communications Unit". Associated Press News. 1994. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  4. ↑ Morrissette, Jess (1999). "Ken Williams (1999 ACG Interview)" . Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  5. ↑ Keighley, Geoffrey (1999). "GameSpot's The Final Hours of Half-Life". Archived from the original on May 8, 1999. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  6. ↑ Markoff, John (March 22, 1992). "The Nation; The Latest Technology Fuels the Oldest of Drives". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  7. ↑ Jong, Philip (2006). "Ken Williams (2006 ACG Interview)" . Retrieved March 29, 2006.
  8. ↑ Warren, Tom (October 13, 2023). "Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition, Call of Duty now part of Xbox". The Verge.
  9. ↑ Williams, Ken (March 25, 2022). "Roberta and Ken Williams are back after 25 years with 'Colossal Cave 3D Adventure'" . Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  10. ↑ TalkSpot
  11. ↑ Ken's Blog
  12. ↑ Williams, Ken. "Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings" . Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  13. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (June 3, 2021). "Ken and Roberta Williams making first game together in over 20 years". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  14. ↑ Sierra gamers, Sierragamers.
  15. ↑ Boudreau, Ian (January 20, 2023). "Why Colossal Cave matters and why Ken and Roberta Williams remade it". PCGamesN. Network N. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.