Years ago, Sierra Online was a publisher that created some of the most iconic games around, including entries in the King’s Quest and Space Quest series. The company was acquired by Vivendi, which later purchased Activision – and the Sierra Online label was retired. However, at Gamescom this week, Activision provided gamers with a little surprise – Sierra is back.
Activision announced the return of the label this week, along with the debut of a new entry in the King’s Quest franchise being developed by the team at Odd Gentlemen. In addition, a new entry in the twin-stick shooter Geometry Wars series will also make its debut later this year for yet unnamed consoles, with Lucid Games handling development.
Bob Loya, senior director of external development at Sierra, spoke to GamesIndustry International about the return of the label. “Launching a new indie-focused Sierra has really been a team effort across all of Activision,” he said. “There’s a group of us here at Activision that have really enjoyed many of the indie games that have been released over the past couple of years, so we started to evangelize the idea of creating an indie label where we could help developers create and distribute great games. We had already been talking to Lucid Games about doing another Geometry Wars title for some time, and we have always wanted to work with The Odd Gentlemen so were given the thumbs-up to start pre-production with each. The final decision for the new Sierra label was given when we presented early demos of each game to some key decision makers at Activision and they loved what they saw.”
Loya also explained that Sierra will be home to up-and-coming projects from new developers, stating that “we are really focused on working with talented indies on great IP, regardless of whether the IP comes from Sierra or elsewhere. The key for us is to match the right indie developers with an IP they are passionate about.
Loya also explained the benefits of bringing back the label, and not just for nostalgia. “It certainly helps that there’s a generation of gamers and developers who are fond of the label. More importantly, the Sierra name has a “feel” to it that really helps everyone align with the objective of creating truly special, independent games. It just works well when we talk with potential indie developers about Sierra’s vision. We really like the idea of developers being able to interact and be represented by a brand they have a personal connection with,” he said.
Both King’s Quest and Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions will be released digitally, and the platforms for the games are expected to be announced soon.
Source: GamesIndustry International
