Sierra Online

Description


Sierra Online, not to be confused with Sierra On-Line, Inc., was established in 2006 and was a division of Vivendi Universal Games, with a focus on casual gaming and online publishing and Xbox Live! Arcade (XBLA) titles. It was based in Los Angeles and was led by President Ed Zobrist.

Vivendi secured its own development divisions for the division through the acquisition of development studio Secret Lair Studios and its Chinese branch Studio Ch'in in September 2006. They were re-branded Sierra Online - Seattle and Sierra Online - Shanghai. In February 2007 another development studio was acquired: Wanako Studios Ltd. The studio also published a number of titles from external studios, such as Artech Studios and SouthEnd Interactive AB. Between 2006 and 2008 the studio released circa 15 titles.

When Activision and Vivendi merged in July 2008 to form Activision Blizzard, the entire Sierra Online division dissolved.