Ken Williams

Developer BIO

Ken Williams was born on October 30, 1954 in Evansville, Indiana. Williams’s father David was a television repairman for Sears, who had moved to California from Cumberland County, Kentucky; his co-workers nicknamed him “Country.” Ken grew up in a fairly tough neighbourhood in Pomona, at times sharing a bedroom with his two brothers, John and Larry.

Ken Williams attended California Polytechnic, Pomona Campus, majored in Physics and was carrying a C average. He met Roberta (Heuer Williams) when he was sixteen and they married on November 4th, 1972, five days after he became 18. They got two sons, D.J., born in 1973 and Chris, born in 1979. As Roberta became parent during his college time he needed a job fast. He stopped studying physics, attended a nine month programming trade school, Control Data Institute in Los Angeles, and graduated top of his class. He had several jobs since then; he worked as a systems programmer for Bekins Moving and Storage, where he got hooked on pure programming, and went after one and a half year to Informatics, where he met one the of the managers in charge of Informatics’s new products, Dick Sunderland, who would become President of Sierra in 1982.

He bought an Apple II, intended to write a Fortran compiler for the Apple and hired five part-time programmers to help him implement the compiler. But things went a bit different, as Roberta, after playing “Adventure” by Crowther and Woods, proposed to make a game with graphics, a game that would become known as Mystery House (1980).

In the same year they founded On Line Systems, later known as Sierra On-Line (1982). Williams was Chairman and CEO of this highly successful and leading game company till 1996, when Sierra On-Line was sold to CUC International. He stayed on with the acquiring company for a short time, to build one of the first internet-shopping systems (www.netmarket.com), which was very successful.

Later on Williams started a dot-com called Talkspot, to do entertainment broadcasting on the web. Talkspot was transformed to a company that did paid broadcasting for companies trying to reach large audiences, and renamed WorldStream. As it wasn’t the right business for him, he retired again. The internet crash happened about a year later, and took WorldStream with it.

In 2003 Williams created a site called SierraGamers, where people can meet, talk about Sierra and upload/download Sierra related files.

After their retirement the Williams’s bought a Nordhavn 62, called Sans Souci. In 2004 they made a trip with it over the Atlantic, and in the same year they upgraded the boat to a Nordhavn 68. Williams created a website to document the trip and other trips (kensblog.com). He also wrote books about their experiences, called “Crossing an Ocean Under Power" (Atlantic) and "Cruising Under Power" (Central Am and Mexico).

In May 2009 they started with two other boats a mini rally, the so-called "The Great Siberian Sushi Run," departing in Seattle for Japan, traversing Alaska, The Bering Sea, and Siberia along the way.

The various websites are constructed with the “Website Construction Set,” which was developed by himself. He offers the “Do-It-Yourself websites” at his site TalkSpot.com.

Websites

• Books by Ken Williams - World Cruising via Trawler -- Download or print books by Ken Williams about his travels with the Nordhavn
• Oct. 1999 Interview -- on Adventure Classic Gaming
• Interview with Ken Williams -- on Adventure Classic Gaming (28 March 2006)
• Ken Williams Interview 2003 -- In-depth interview with Ken Williams. He discussing the history of Sierra from it's birth to it's sale in 1996 to what Ken is up to now.
• Ken Williams Interview (circa 1997) -- Craig White of Just Adventure+ discusses 1997 and what is upcoming in 1998 at Sierra.
• Sierra On-Line Fan Site -- Website maintained by Ken Williams, offers information and chatting forums on Sierra history and games, also with links on Sierra game-related files.
• cabokenw -- Videos of Ken and Roberta Williams's Great Siberian Sushi Run

Games Credited

• Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller - Episode 1: The Hangman (2012), Reverb Publishing
• The Silver Lining: Episode Three - My Only Love Sprung from My Only Hate (2011), Phoenix Online Studios
• The Silver Lining: Episode One - What is Decreed Must Be (2010), Phoenix Online Studios
• The Silver Lining: Episode Two - Two Households (2010), Phoenix Online Studios
• The Fast and the Furious (2006), Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
• King's Quest Collection (2006), Sierra Entertainment, Inc.
• Diablo II (Collector's Edition) (2000), Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
• Supercross 2000 (1999), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Mortal Kombat 4 (1998), Midway Games, Inc.
• NHL 99 (1998), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Police Quest: SWAT 2 (1998), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire (1998), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• King's Quest: Collection Series (1997), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• The Realm (1997), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Hoyle Bridge (1996), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! (1996), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh (1996), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Justice League Task Force (1995), Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
• Thexder (1995), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Torin's Passage (1995), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Alien Legacy (1994), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• The Incredible Toon Machine (1994), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• King's Quest (Collector's Edition) (1994), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Crazy Nick's Software Picks: King Graham's Board Game Challenge (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Fates of Twinion (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Hoyle Classic Card Games (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Shadow of Yserbius (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Sid & Al's Incredible Toons (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Space Quest V: The Next Mutation (1993), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• The Dagger of Amon Ra (1992), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Jones in the Fast Lane: CD-ROM (1992), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (1992), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (1992), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Castle of Dr. Brain (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Hoyle Official Book of Games: Volume 3 (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Jones in the Fast Lane (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Mixed Up Fairy Tales (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Mixed-Up Mother Goose (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Police Quest 3: The Kindred (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (1991), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Fire Hawk: Thexder - The Second Contact (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Hoyle Official Book of Games: Volume 2 (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Oil's Well (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Roberta Williams' King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Sorcerian (1990), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Code-Name: Iceman (1989), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• The Colonel's Bequest (1989), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero (1989), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Hoyle Official Book of Games: Volume 1 (1989), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals (1989), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Manhunter 2: San Francisco (1989), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Silpheed (1989), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (1988), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Manhunter: New York (1988), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Police Quest 2: The Vengeance (1988), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (1987), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Sierra's 3-D Helicopter Simulator (1987), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Thexder (1987), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• The Black Cauldron (1986), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• King's Quest III: To Heir is Human (1986), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Space Quest: Chapter I - The Sarien Encounter (1986), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne (1985), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Hi-Res Adventure #3: Cranston Manor (1982), On-Line Systems
• Hi-Res Adventure #5: Time Zone (1982), On-Line Systems
• Mouskattack (1982), On-Line Systems
• Hi-Res Adventure #4: Ulysses and the Golden Fleece (1981), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• Threshold (1981), On-Line Systems
• Hi-Res Adventure #0: Mission Asteroid (1980), On-Line Systems
• Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House (1980), On-Line Systems
• Hi-Res Adventure #2: The Wizard and the Princess (1980), On-Line Systems