Sierra Entertainment

Background
Sierra is a legendary game developer and publisher, most famous for the King's Quest series. It was founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems. The company came to fame following their production of Hi-Res Adventures for the Apple II. The company would soon become Sierra On-Line and later Sierra Entertainment, which is the company's current identity. In the late 90's, Sierra passed through a series of acquisitions (by CUC International, then Cendant, which was purchased by Havas). In 1999 Sierra, suffering from financial troubles, announced major layoffs, which included some studios to be closed. A year later Havas became a part of Vivendi and was renamed Vivendi Universal Publishing. Sierra continued as a game publishing division of Vivendi. In 2008, Vivendi Games was integrated into Activision Publishing, who then closed Sierra Entertainment. However, in 2014, Sierra was relaunched by Activision Blizzard.

1st Logo (1980-1985)
Nicknames: "The Sierra Mountain", "Primitive Mountain"

Logo: On a black background, there is a white line going into a circle. Inside the circle is a white/purple outline of a mountain face, with green trees below it. To the right of it is "Sierra" in a small script font and "ON-LINE INC" in a bold italic font.

Variants:


 * On their first title, the logo is in the middle of the title screen.
 * On the PC port of Wizard and the Princess, the logo draws in on a gray background. Here the mountain is fully colored and the line and text are pink.
 * The line and mountain may not be seen.
 * On later games, the On-Line Systems logo (which is the same except the mountain is gone and the text reads as "ON-LINE systems") appears in a slash formation with 5 other copies. Each of them have "Presents" below them.

FX/SFX: The shining and the 2 stars, usually.

Music/Sounds: Silent or the opening theme to the game.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on their first titles, like Mystery House. It was also used in tandem with the 2nd logo.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1982-1997)
Nickname: "The Sierra Mountain II"

Logo: On a black background, a segmented circle is seen with the same mountain face as before, but represented by contrasting segmented lines. Below it is "SIERRA" in either a bold Helvetica font.

Variants:


 * Usually, the logo would take up the entire screen, with beveled edges and a shiny look to it. 2 stars ping in time with the music, as well as it occasionally shining. The color differs from game to game, but it's mostly green.
 * On Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals, there is Larry with a girl seen in a blue dress. The segmented mountain appears to the right before transforming into a more detailed gray mountain with a blue sky. "SIERRA" stretches in with rainbow colors in stars above the mountain, with "PRESENTS" appearing the same way below the mountain.
 * On some games, the logo is on a blue background, with each piece sliding in one by one. The name then appear below one by one, as well as "PRESENTS".
 * Sometimes, the logo starts with the picture of the actual mountain face before morphing to the logo, with the name brightening below.
 * Later on, the text is now in a Times New Roman font, and the logo is smaller and placed to the right sometimes.
 * On Police Quest: SWAT, a man emerges within the logo and shoots the letters, causing them to spin.
 * On other games, a blue furry monster walks in with either a Dynamix byline or the Dynamix logo, before pointing at the logo and saying the name.
 * On the last games, the logo gained a metallic look to it, as well as the Dynamix logo appears.

FX/SFX: Depends on the game.

Music/Sounds: Starting in 1991, a majestic fanfare with strings which ascend, followed by a 4-note trumpet, and two dings when the stars appear. Other than that, it's silent, or with a different fanfare, or it's the opening music of the game.

Availability: Very common. Can be seen on most of Sierra's games from the time, most notably the King's Quest series.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1996)
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Nicknames: "The Sierra Mountain II", "The Animated Sierra Mountain"

Logo: Starting off at a dark mountain with clouds rolling above, they move around as thunder lights them up in the back. The camera then zooms in at the mountain, now with thunder striking it, before it brightens up and a gold circle zooms out slowly to surround it. A duller circle then stops around it, with the second one coming in and with a rainbow coming in from the side. The mountain becomes gold and the rainbow hits it, turning it into a shining gold Sierra logo. "SIERRA" zooms in from the screen as the light behind it dies down, before popping up again. The logo continues to shine.

FX/SFX: The thunder, the circle and rainbow, the shine. Very impressive animation, looking beautiful even under the limits of CD-ROM technology.

Music/Sounds: Some dark flutes playing and thunder sounds, ending in a proud orchestral fanfare.

Availability: Rare. Appears on Lighthouse: The Dark Being as well as Lionel Traintown. It also appears on the Space Quest Collection installer.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (as Sierra Attractions) (1998-2000)
Nickname: "Sierra Attractions"

Logo: On a black background, strange streaks zoom in and rotate before revealing the new Sierra logo, which is "SIERRA" in a strange font with a "wing" on the "S" made from spikes. Below it is "attractions" and a yellow triangle, all lighten up by RGB lights. The triangle shines.

Variants:


 * On 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball, the logo is seen in white on a red stripe surrounded by checkerboards. A racing car with images of the blue monster then swerves into place below, with a crowd cheering in the background. The blue monster then emerges from the window and does what he did before.
 * The logo may sometimes just shine.

FX/SFX: The rotation and the shining.

Music/Sounds: A short synth theme. The variant uses the end of the fanfare from the previous logo, as well as the sounds of the car and the blue monster.

Availability: Can be found on pinball, poker and other sport games by Sierra.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (as Sierra FX) (July 11-December 7, 1998)
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Logo: On a black background, a blue light shines as the letters of the previous logo swirl around inside it. As they get closer together, the light brightens before forming a glare. The Sierra FX logo, which is the Sierra logo with blue spikes and "FX" in a black connected font with a blue glow, appears as a light passes behind it.

FX/SFX: The fragments flying and shining.

Music/Sounds: A mystic synth tune with a strange flute when the logo appears.

Availability: Only seen on 2 Yosemite Entertainment games, which were Police Quest: SWAT 2 and Quest for Glory V.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1998-2001)
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Logo: On a rotating starry background, blue wireframes of the Sierra logo zoom out and spin into place, along with "STUDIOS". A ring also takes its place surrounding the "S". Then, metal shards cover the logo, turning it silver. The logo (the bar, the "STUDIOS" text and the ring) turns gold and proceeds to shine brightly, ending with the ring giving off a gleam.

Variant: A short version exists, with the logo closer to the screen and only having the ring shine. It also only has sounds having the ring shining.

FX/SFX: The logo forming.

Music/Sounds: A deep synth note and several whooshes, ending with sparkles and a dark bell tune.

Availability: Uncommon. Appears on Sierra published games from the era. The most well-known game with this logo is Half-Life. Other games include Lords of Magic, Team Fortress Classic, Counter Strike, Ground Control, SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle (Original and Elite Editions only), King's Quest: Mask of Eternity and Homeworld Cataclysm. A shortened version appeared on Caesar 3. None of the Steam releases of Valve games will have this logo.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (2001-2002)
Logo: On a black background, the logo in a pinkish silver zooms out one-by-one starting with the right. The logo also shines brightly throughout the entire time.

Variant: On SWAT 3: Tactical GOTY Edition, a copyright date appears below.

FX/SFX: The letters flying and shining.

Music/Sounds: Several sharp flying sounds, then a small whoosh sound.

Availability: Rare due to its short life span. Seen on Arcanum, Alien vs Predator 2, The Throne of Darkness, Empire Earth, SWAT 3: Tactical GOTY Edition and both the GOTY PC/PS2 versions of The Operative: No One Lives Forever.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Logo (2002-2008)
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Nicknames: "The Sierra Mountain III", "The CGI Sierra Mountain"

Logo: On a white background, we past the bottom of a snowy mountain. As the white clears to reveal a blue sky, it reveals the familiar mountain with snow and mist all around the reddish rock. As it zooms out, the background fades to black and the mountain fades to the logo, which is a modified version of the familiar mountain still moving in it. When it stops moving, a flurry of snow comes from the corner and takes the logo with it. It then clears out, with the logo fading back in, along with a modified version of the "SIERRA" text from before (minus the wing).

Variants:


 * World in Conflict contains a mostly different animation. Helicopters surround the red-colored mountain, which forms the Sierra logo in yellow on a red background. Then, static comes in to reveal a version of the logo with the hammer and sickle and "СЬЕРРА". The logo then changes to the normal logo through the same static transition.
 * Software released under the Sierra Home label had this logo with the word "Home" in a cursive font. This print variant was used until 2004, when the Sierra Home label was discontinued.
 * A still version exists, with the mountain in yellow.
 * There was a version with tribal-style remixed soundtrack.
 * A white-background still version was used on Tribes: Vengeance.
 * Starting in 2006, the logo played in warp-speed.

FX/SFX: Excellent CGI.

Music/Sounds: A flute piece, transitioning into a techno beat that grows louder into an orchestral hit, and then a whoosh when the snowflake cloud appears.

Availability: Very common. The original version can be seen on original, non-Steam versions of Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R, Eragon, SWAT 4, Ground Control 2, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Caesar IV, and the international version of Spyro: A Hero's Tail, among others. Often accompanied by the Vivendi Univesal Games logo. The later shorter version appears on The Legend of Spyro trilogy, Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind Over Mutant, Sacrifice: The World is Yours, TimeShift and other games from that era. The Sierra Home variant was seen on Sierra published software from 2002-2004.

Editor's Note: While the company was merged into Vivendi Games in 2004, this logo was still used until 2008 as a publishing label.

9th Logo (August 7, 2014-)
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Nicknames: "The Sierra Mountain IV", "New Sierra Mountain", "CGI Sierra Mountain II", "The Hiker", "The Activision Mountain"

Logo: We see wind blow against a white background as a man clothed in hiking gear, shielding his eyes with his left arm, comes into view. As the wind dies down, we see the Sierra mountain, and the hiker pauses to view it for a moment before running up to it. The camera zooms out as we see that the hiker animation is coming from a series of blue bars. They come together to form a blue, redesigned version of the Sierra mountain logo (2002-2008 version) as "SIERRA", in a gray, stylized font resembling the one from before, forms underneath it. When the logo is complete, it flashes blue and some frost blows off of it, and the background changes to vignetted black/blue gradient. The small byline

"©[year] Activision Publishing, Inc. SIERRA is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc."

fades in at the bottom of the screen.

Variants:


 * A still version of the finished product appears on the bottom-left corner of the title screen for the iOS version of Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions.
 * A shorter version of the logo with only the last part of the animation and no byline appears in trailers for Sierra games.

FX/SFX: Impressive CGI animation that looks very realistic.

Music/Sounds: Wind blowing sounds are heard throughout. Near the end, there are some whooshes and a deep "boom" (not unlike the 2001 logo) as the logo comes together.

Availability: Current. It was first revealed on the Sierra website in late 2014 and officially debuted on Velocity 2X in September. Also seen on Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, Shiftlings, and the 2015 King's Quest reboot.

Editor's Note: None.