Three studios shut down and over a hundred employees get their walking papers.

Sierra On-Line, the largest and one of the oldest publishers of PC games in the United States, has made some significant cutbacks, shutting down three game studios and letting over one hundred staffers go.

“The entertainment market is changing and we need to maintain our leadership role in the category,” said Sierra's President, David Grenewetzki. “As we evolve into a mass market industry, we need to focus on the needs of the consumers. We feel that a more focused software strategy and a stronger commitment to the Internet and online gaming are key factors for our continued success.”

Hardest hit by the cutbacks was Yosemite Entertainment, a studio with 135 full-time employees. It was completely shut down. Located in tiny Oakhurst, California (and very near Yosemite National Park), the studio was the original headquarters of Sierra On-Line, founded by Ken and Roberta Williams nearly two decades ago. Over the years, such classic PC games as King’s Quest, Space Quest, and the Leisure Suit Larry series were made there. It was only later, in 1993, that Sierra opened up its Bellevue, Washington headquarters.

One of the original founders of Sierra On-Line, Ken Williams, expressed his condolences to his former colleagues. (Williams no longer plays an active role in the management of Sierra.)

“According to tradition, I'm supposed to say something uplifting and motivational to help everyone feel better,” said Williams. “Unfortunately, I have failed at this task. There is really nothing good that can be said. This is a sad ending to Sierra's 20-year operating history in Oakhurst, which at one time, represented over 550 Oakhurst-based employees. This story should have had a happy ending, but instead has had a long string of bad news concluding with the shutdown yesterday of all of Sierra's Oakhurst-based product development activities.”

Sierra will try to keep some of the people and projects from Yosemite Entertainment. Of the 135 people affected by the closure, up to 40 were offered jobs in Bellevue, Washington, where they could continue work on two key Yosemite projects: The Babylon 5 Space Combat Simulator and Middle Earth Online. Another Yosemite project, a Navy SEALS game using the Unreal engine, seems to be dead in the water.

Yosemite wasn’t the only group hit. Sierra also shut down Synergistic Studios and Pyrotechnix. Pyrotechnix, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based outfit, most recently completed Return to Krondor for Sierra. It was shut down completely, and Sierra has said that there will be no more games in the Krondor roleplaying series.

Synergistic - also known as Sierra Sports Northwest - also closed its doors, and as many as 30 other employees at Sierra’s studio Dynamix were also given the axe. These closures mean that the NFL Football Pro 2000 and NFL Pinball Pro projects are now history.

Those who lost their jobs have not been idle. Former employees, well-wishers, and head-hunters have been congregating on a website called Black Monday - so named because it was on a Monday that the cutbacks were suddenly announced. They’ve been exchanging job leads and contact info, and reminiscing about the company’s long history in the Oakhurst area.