Ken Williams (game developer)

Ken Williams ( * October 30, 1954 ) is an American programmer and game developers. He was co-founder and longtime CEO of game developer and publishers Sierra On-Line.

Life and work

Williams founded in 1979 together with his wife Roberta the gaming software manufacturer Sierra Entertainment (formerly Sierra On-Line), who was active from 1979 to 2008. In addition to his involvement as co-founder and CEO of Sierra Entertainment Williams was involved as a programmer and producer on numerous games of the company ( King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder, Phantasmagoria 2, etc.), including the first graphic adventure Mystery House. In some Sierra games there are also allusions to his person and cameo appearances. Until 1996, Sierra On-Line was under Williams' leadership and increased at this time to become a leading supplier of computer games, which is now also published the titles of other game developers in addition to its own products.

"There were two people did had a heavy influence on Sierra: Bill Gates and Walt Disney. 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. "

"There were two people who had great influence on Sierra: Bill Gates and Walt Disney. These two companies were our role models. I 've read every book about these two companies. I have tried everything in order to understand how they think and how they carry out their business. "

" 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 Which game does not push the state of the art leaves of opportunity for a competitor 's game to look better. "

" I'm not sure how typical I am a CEO ... most of the time I spend looking at the product ... For me it's only about being able to develop an excellent product ... Any game that is not the limits of the technically feasible driving forward, leaves competitors the opportunity to look better. "

In 1996 the company was sold to CUC software. The following year, Williams left the company and retired from the game industry. 2009 were counted together by IGN of the 100 most important game developers of all time Ken and Roberta Williams. Ken and Roberta have two sons, DJ and Chris.

472672
de