Sierra founders return to game dev with a graphical remake of 1976's Colossal Cave

Colossal Cave 3D
(Image credit: Cygnus Entertainment)

Sierra Online founders Ken and Roberta Williams are getting back into game development after more than 20 years to remake a text adventure from 1976.

As Roberta Williams explained to PC Gamer, the two are working on a graphical remake of Colossal Cave Adventure, suitably titled Colossal Cave 3D Adventure. She says that lockdown boredom also got to them in the past few years, and while feeling out a potential book on Sierra's history to fill their time, she says they ended up "looking for something fun to build and I had the idea of paying homage to the game that inspired our company and changed our lives." 

Colossal Cave was released a few years before Sierra was formed in 1979. It was a strictly text-based adventure game developed by Will Crowther and later Don Woods, and it went on to spawn and influence a wave of so-called "Advent" games, including Sierra's 1980 release Mystery House. 

"It's a far better game than they first realized!" Roberta Williams told PC Gamer. "There is far more to it than they would ever have believed when they started." 

For the 3D graphical remake of Colossal Cave, Ken and Roberta Williams, now operating as Cygnus Entertainment, say they're "reimagining" the original for nostalgic fans as well as modern players while aiming for a "family-oriented" game. Its official website describes it as a "fully immersive 3D virtual reality exploration of underground caves" sporting 143 different locations experienced in first-person. It's currently targeting a fall 2022 launch on PC and Mac with Oculus Quest 2 support. 

In more modern remake news, we're due for more information on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part Two later this year.

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Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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