Police Quest: Open Season

Police Quest: Open Season
DeveloperSierra On-Line
PublisherSierra On-Line
DirectorTammy Dargan
ProducerTammy Dargan
DesignerTammy Dargan
ProgrammerDoug Oldfield
ArtistDarrin Fuller
WriterTammy Dargan
ComposerNeal Grandstaff
SeriesPolice Quest
EngineSCI
PlatformsMS-DOS, Windows, Mac OS
ReleaseNovember 1993
GenreAdventure
ModeSingle-player

Police Quest: Open Season (also known as Police Quest IV) is a 1993 police procedural point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It is the fourth installment in the Police Quest series. Departing from the fictional setting of Lytton, California from the first three installments, Open Season follows police detective John Carey as he investigates a series of brutal murders in Los Angeles.

The game was produced in cooperation with former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) chief Daryl F. Gates, who had been recently ousted for his involvement in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Gates replaced former series director and ex-California Highway Patrol officer Jim Walls, who left Sierra around 1991. Sierra employee Tammy Dargan wrote and designed most of the game.

Open Season received mixed reviews and underperformed compared to previous entries. Since release, the game has been criticized as a racist and "reactionary" depiction of crime in Los Angeles.

An updated CD-ROM version was released in 1994; the updated version replaced on-screen text with recorded audio and also provided additional animations, music, and arcade sequences. An indirect sequel and spinoff, Police Quest: SWAT, was released in 1995.