Ken Williams (born October 1954) is an American game programmer and co-founder with his wife Roberta Williams of On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line. Roberta and Ken married at the age of 19 and have two children. The couple have been leading figures in the development of graphical adventure games.

Ken Williams (right) and Jim Henson, circa 1982

Their contribution to gaming was partially chronicled in the book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Ken was the president of Sierra until the company was sold to CUC in 1996. Vivendi (now Activision Blizzard after the Vivendi Games and Activision and merger) currently holds the Sierra name.

As of 2006^[update], Ken is enjoying retirement with his wife Roberta. He is no longer active in the computer-gaming industry; his current projects are limited to writing and managing a website construction tool called TalkSpot, primarily as a hobby. He has published a book titled Crossing an Ocean under Power that chronicled his journey with Roberta across the Atlantic on his 62-foot trawler during his retirement years.

In a 2006 interview^[1] with Adventure Classic Gaming, Ken admitted to the names of two individuals who had most influenced his career as a game developer and in how he envisioned Sierra On-Line to be, "No doubt about it: There were two people that 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."

Ken's trademarks have been his mustache and hair. His appearance has inspired Sierra's designers for some sprites, honoring Ken with cameo appearances in some games. One of these "incarnations" is the chief Keneewauwau of the Nontoonyt natives and Ken, the annoying joke teller (both appearing in Leisure Suit Larry games), as well as a whipper of "scumsoft" in Space Quest III.

[edit] References

• ^ Philip Jong (2006). "Ken Williams (ACG Interview)". Adventure Classic Gaming. http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/197/. Retrieved March 29, 2006. 

[edit] External links

• Ken and Roberta Williams page
• Interview with Ken Williams at Adventure Classic Gaming (1996)
• 17 Oct 2005 interview with Ken Williams
• Entry at The Dot Eaters featuring Williams and an early history of Sierra
• Ken Williams at MobyGames
• Ken Williams at the Internet Movie Database

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