Last week’s small teaser for a revival of classic game studio Sierra performed as desired. Much hype was made, much attention was gained, and so, as GamesCom unveiled some amazing new games and a few tantalizing Xbox One bundles, Activision made their expertly planned move, unveiling an all new Sierra.
The new studio, restored to active duty, is planned to be Activision’s new publishing label for new, slightly edgy projects, as well as carry on famous Sierra intellectual properties, starting with a revamped version of King’s Quest, as seen in the teaser, and also a new Geometry Wars.
“Sierra’s goal is to find and work with gifted up-and-coming indie developers working on their own amazing projects or who are passionate about working on great Sierra IP,” said Bob Loya in an interview with Venturebeat. “We’re in talks with a large number of other indie devs, and we can’t wait to share more details with fans in the near future.”
The first of these indie titles is going to be a new version of a venerable old game. Developer team The Odd Gentlemen, who brought us The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, are currently working on this new and exciting revamp of King’s Quest for a 2015 release. The game won’t be a pixel for pixel remake, but rather a re imagined concept from the ground up.
The Odd Gentlemen have promised, however, that the game will remain faithful to the original Kings Quest, in that it will bring the same tried and true mixture of “difficult puzzles and engaging narratives” that fans of the old title will remember.
Another offering from the new Sierra is an updated, redone version of Geometry Wars, the arcade shooter found in the garage of several amazing racing games. It’ll be fully 3D and will arrive in the holiday season from developer Lucid Games. It seems like Activision is really injecting some capital into these indie developers, specifically the talented ones, through the new Sierra. Original developer Stephen Cakebread has confirmed he is sadly not on board with the project.
“We’re very proud of what we created all those years ago with Sierra Online, and today’s news about carrying Sierra forward as an indie-specific brand is very encouraging,” Sierra’s original founder Ken Williams said in a statement “We look forward to seeing Sierra’s independent spirit live on, and are especially excited to see what The Odd Gentlemen will do with King’s Quest.”
Source: Eurogamer