Wikipedia is an excellent tool. Taking a look they have the companies associated with Sierra broken down. How does this feel?
Sierra proper – Oakhurst operations
Dynamix – Everything they made ties back to Sierra and should be here. They were closed in 2001.
Included the adventures (Rise of the Dragon, Willy Beamish), Earthsiege/Starsiege/Tribes, Incredible Machine, the simulations and 3D Ultra along with others.
Impressions – 1995 acquisition, first major game for Sierra was Lords of the Realm 2. By 1999 they were on the Caesar derivatives (Pharoah, Zeus, Emperor). Last game was Lords of the Realm 3 in 2004. Shutdown shortly thereafter. I can see including everything that came out from Lords of the Realm 2 to the end with maybe a highlight of LOTR 1 because Sierra re-released it.
Coktel Vision – 1993 acquisition. Goblins series, Inca series, Lost in Time, Ween, The Last Dynasty. Seemed to disappear off the map after Urban Runner in 1996. Reported to be focused back on Edutainment in Europe.
Bright Star Technology – Lots of the Discovery games: Alphabet Blocks, Lost Mind of Dr. Brain. Kid’s Typing. Early Math. Looked to be a big contribution in the early 90s with not much after that. Probably get most of those games included by fleshing out the Discovery series area.
Papyrus – Acquired 1995, nothing but Nascar Racing releases after 1999 which should be tied back to the Nascar 1/2/3 that were in the Sierra time frame. Some other racing games released in the mid 90s (SODA, Indycar)
Books That Work – ?
Green Thumb Software – Was this the home productivity stuff? Home Designer, Landscape designer? A productivity section of software is probably called for at some point – likely in the Sierra Museum as opposed to product by product study in The Games area. There was the early stuff in the pre-84 range (Superscript, Sierra’s On Line) and then the stuff at the end (including Web Studio, Home Designer).
PryoTechnix – As far as I know, this was just the team that did Return to Krondor. Did they do anything else for Sierra? Shows acquired in 96, closed in 99.
Berkeley – You Don’t Know Jack series.
Headgate Studios – Acquired in 96, sold in 99. Front Page Sports Golf series that ended (for Sierra) with the PGA Championship 2000. From there they started Tiger Woods PGA Tour for EA. Interesting that Vance Cook (Access software’s Links programmer – I didn’t know that).
Northwest Synergistic Software – Thexder and Silpheed ports in late 80s. Back to Sierra for Birthright and Diablo: Hellfire expansion in mid to late 90s.
Later VU Studios (Likely not included on Sierra Gamers)
High Moon Studios – Later acquisition (2005-06). Darkwatch, The Bourne Conspiracy.
Radical Entertainment – Mid 2000s stuff that came out under the VU label. Scarface? Dark Angel?
Massive Entertainment – Ground Control, World in Conflict. More VU than Sierra.
Swordfish – Acquired in 2005, sold in 2008. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.
Valve – Half Life in 99
Relic – Homeworld in 99
Click Entertainment – Throne of Darkness in 2001.
Inevitable Entertainment – The Hobbit in 2003.
Liquid Entertainment – Lord of the Rings: Battle of Middle Earth in 2003
The post 2000 acquisition and development house list probably continues. I’ve seen references to both Relic and Valve as being green lit and the games well in development before the 99 shutdown and I know most Sierra fans understand there was a bit of ownership over those games. What about the later ones? Did anything come out after 2000 that wasn’t captured in the top development houses already associated with Sierra that people feel strongly about?
Andy