14 DAY TRIAL // Last week at Gamescom, Activision announced that the Sierra label would rise from the dead and start promoting projects created by independent studios, kicking off with Lucid Games' Geometry Wars 3 and a brand new entry in the King's Quest series, from The Odd Gentlemen.
Sierra is a world-famous publisher from the '80s and '90s, that also published the first Half-Life video game, and now, after a long period of inactivity, parent company Activision intends to use it as the go-to label for all its indie ventures.
"The indie movement is happening. And for Activision not to be involved in that... it has the big brands sure, but I think it would be a miss if we didn't look at the indie movement as well," said Sierra's MacLean Marshall.
"For us, it is about finding the right devs with the right ideas. Whether that is bringing back an old Sierra IP or something entirely new," Marshall told MCV.
The relaunch of the classic adventure publisher follows a pretty lengthy stretch of Activision narrowing its focus to big earners, kicking out everyone who was merely solvent, with the exception of its consecrated heavy-hitting franchises, Call of Duty, Skylanders and World of Warcraft.
"We wanted to do this stuff for a long time, and unfortunately there wasn't a path in Activision to do it because we were focused on the big blockbusters."
"With digitally distributed games becoming bigger every year, we were able to make a compelling business argument that we could be financially successful doing this, while working with really cool indie talent on great IP," Senior Director of External Development Bob Loya stated.
For the time being, nobody knows what the future of Sierra holds. Might be new IPs, might be some HD remakes of old classics, but whatever it is, the giant publisher seems determined to also give the small guys a chance, and not only the triple-A billion-dollar franchises of its past.
Fancy another Leisure Suit Larry adventure? That's unlikely to happen very soon, as Codemasters currently holds the rights to that franchise, even though it wouldn't be a huge challenge for Activision's deep pockets.
In any case, having one more big publisher interested in getting everyday games in the hands of everyday gamers is definitely a good thing, especially considering that Activision already has its big hits covered for the time being, with Destiny coming out on September 9, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on November 4, and the Warlords of Draenor expansion for World of Warcraft on November 13.