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Period: to
Ken Williams
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Williams is Born
in Evansville, Indiana. Source: (Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition. OReilly, 2010.) -
Williams starts college
He graduated high school a year early, and entered college at 16.
Source: (Williams, Ken. Sierra Gamers, https://www.sierragamers.com/ken-williams.) -
Ken marries his high school girlfriend,
Roberta, five days after turning 18. -
William's finishes CDI,
a 9 month programming trade school he dropped out of college to attend. -
Ken and Roberta have their first child,
named D.J. -
On-Line Systems is founded by Ken and his wife
(later renamed to Sierra On-Line)
Source: (Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition. OReilly, 2010.) -
Mystery House
Ken and Roberta's first game, it was priced at $24.95 and made 11,000 dollars in the first month alone. Roberta did all the designing and writing, while Ken programmed it.
Source: (Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition. OReilly, 2010.) -
Ken quits his last full-time job
at Financial Decisions in order to devote all of his time to On-Line systems and their next game.
Source: (Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition. OReilly, 2010.) -
The Wizard and the Princess Releases
It sold 25,000 copies by 1982 and 60,000 copies in total.
Source: (Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition. OReilly, 2010.) -
Ken and Roberta opened On-Line's first office
Source: (Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition. OReilly, 2010.) -
Leisure Suit Larry
Sierra releases their adult adventure game to critical and commercial success. -
AT&T purchases the ImagiNation Network
Sierra's revolutionary concept of a complete virtual game world as a service -
Sierra is bought by what is now Activision
for 90% above their trading price
Source: (Levy, Steven. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition. OReilly, 2010.) -
Ken retires as CEO and Chairman of Sierra Online
This came after the company's acquisition 1996.
Source: (Williams, Ken. Sierra Gamers, https://www.sierragamers.com/ken-williams.) -
Williams starts Talkspot
A short-lived entertainment broadcasting service, but it didn't have a sustainable business model and couldn't sell ads.
Source: (Williams, Ken. Sierra Gamers, https://www.sierragamers.com/ken-williams.)
