The World’s First Erotic Game
Softporn Adventure (originally called Super Stud Adventure), released in 1981, is considered to be the first erotic computer game for adults.
The game was developed by Chuck Benton, who was testing the capabilities of Apple II at that time. After he created Softporn Adventure he received positive feedback from friends, the author decided to show the game to the general public. Initially, the developer ran into problems with the distribution of the game, as no one wanted to risk publishing explicit content. By the time he managed to sell only 100 copies of the game (and the game was frankly raw and clumsy), Chuck was lucky to meet Ken Williams, president, and co-founder of On-Line Systems (that later was renamed to Sierra On-Line). Yes, the legendary Sierra On-Line – which stood at the origins of the Adventure genre. Ken Williams decides to take a chance and produce the first erotic game.
The cover of the game was a picture of three hot women in a jacuzzi and a waiter serving champagne.
The add of the cover was printed in Time Magazine.
The photoshoot took place at Ken and Roberta Williams’s villa.
From left to right, Diana Seagal, the production manager, Susan Davis, an accountant (wife of Bob Davis, the creator of Ulysses and the Golden Fleece) and Robert Williams (co-owner of On-Line Systems). They are served by a waiter from the local Broken Bit restaurant.
By the way, Roberta Williams, the co-founder of the legendary Sierra On-Line, will later create the King’s Quest series, the point’n’click quest genre, and will become one of the most influential women in the industry.
The scandalous photo was, for the first time, published in September 1981 in Softalk magazine and caused mixed reactions in society. The appearance of such challenging content in the magazine, of course, could not but provoke a heated discussion.
Despite this, about 50 thousand copies of the game were sold, which can be considered a good result. Ken Williams admitted that Softporn Adventure doubled its total sales of all the games.
