Infocom

Infocom, Inc.

Company type	Private (1979–1986), Subsidiary of Activision (1986–1989)
Industry	Software, Interactive fiction, Business software
Founded	June 22, 1979 (1979-06-22) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Founder	Tim Anderson, Joel Berez, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels, Jim Broos, Dave Cutler, Al Vezza, Mike Galley, Peter Licklider, Stu Galley, Bill Reeve
Defunct	1989 (1989)
Fate	Acquired by Activision in 1986; division dissolved in 1989
Headquarters	Cambridge , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Joel Berez (president), Jim Levy (former CEO), Bruce Davis (Activision CEO post-acquisition)
Products	Interactive fiction games (Zork series), Cornerstone relational database system
Number of employees	Reduced by half before 1986 acquisition; exact numbers not specified
Parent	Activision (1986–1989)

Infocom, Inc. was a United States-based software company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, recognized for its groundbreaking contributions to interactive fiction and for developing the business-oriented application Cornerstone, a relational database system.

Established on June 22, 1979, by a group of staff and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Infocom remained an independent entity until its purchase by Activision in 1986. Although Activision dissolved the Infocom division by 1989, it continued to release several titles under the Zork label throughout the 1990s before eventually retiring the trademark in 2002.

Overview

Infocom's expertise lay in crafting text-driven interactive fiction games, where players engaged with virtual environments through typed commands. These inputs varied from straightforward directives such as "go west" or "take flashlight" to more intricate sequences like "open the large door, then go west."

The company's games were programmed using their exclusive language called ZIL (Zork Implementation Language), which originated from MDL. This code was compiled into bytecode compatible with a unified virtual machine, known as the Z-machine. This design allowed Infocom to develop a single interpreter per hardware platform instead of one for each game, facilitating simultaneous releases across numerous popular home computer systems including Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, IBM PC compatibles, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore 128, Kaypro running CP/M, TI-99/4A, Macintosh, Atari ST, Amiga, TRS-80, and the TRS-80 Color Computer.

Infocom's sophisticated parser was capable of interpreting complex sentence structures beyond simple 'verb noun' commands, significantly improving player interaction and establishing new standards within the text adventure genre.

Foundation and Zork

Infocom's origins trace back to a team of MIT faculty and alumni who created the text adventure game Zork. The project began in 1977 at MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science with key contributors including Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, and Bruce Daniels. Drawing inspiration from Colossal Cave Adventure, their goal was to advance both the text parser capabilities and puzzle design. Although not formally publicized during development, Zork garnered early interest through unsecured access on MIT’s PDP-10 systems via ARPANET, fostering an active community of playtesters.

On June 22, 1979, Infocom was formally incorporated as a software company by founders including Anderson, Berez, Blank, Broos, Cutler, Galley, Lebling, Licklider, Reeve, and Vezza. By the end of that year, Zork was finalized; Joel Berez assumed the role of president. After Microsoft declined publishing rights due to competition with its own product, Infocom initially partnered with Personal Software (VisiCorp), but eventually opted for self-publishing because of inadequate marketing support.

When released in 1980, Zork I achieved bestseller status through 1985. By 1986, sales reached 380,000 units for this first installment alone, with the trilogy collectively selling 680,000 copies—accounting for roughly one-third of Infocom’s total two million game sales. Critics hailed Zork as a seminal work that shaped adventure gaming and laid groundwork for related online multiplayer experiences.

Expansion

Lebling and Blank continued to create new games, while additional authors such as Steve Meretzky joined the team. Infocom broadened its catalog by releasing sequels and notable titles like Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and A Mind Forever Voyaging. Text-based adventures remained a major revenue driver; unlike the typical decline in game sales over time, Infocom’s products maintained consistent sales for years. By the end of 1984, Infocom turned down a $28 million acquisition proposal from Simon & Schuster.

Reception

Infocom’s games found considerable popularity among professionals; approximately one-quarter of executives owned computer games, with a preference for Infocom’s text adventures rather than arcade-style titles. The company observed that 75% of its players were older than 25 and mostly male, yet it attracted a higher proportion of female gamers compared to competitors, largely due to its focus on narrative-driven mysteries. Their audience tended to be avid readers who appreciated complex storytelling.

A critical factor in Infocom’s success was its marketing approach—selling through bookstores to reach readers—and the combination of immersive storytelling with carefully crafted puzzles that were seamlessly integrated into the plot. The use of "feelies," physical items included with the games, acted both as innovative copy protection and as a means to deepen player immersion.

Infocom expanded beyond fantasy genres to encompass science fiction, mystery, horror, historical adventure, and produced titles targeting female players such as Plundered Hearts. They also developed Leather Goddesses of Phobos, which featured multiple gameplay modes and distinctive feelies like a scratch-and-sniff card.

InvisiClues

Starting with pay-per-hint offerings distributed via the Zork Users Group newsletter, Infocom later introduced InvisiClues hint books printed in invisible ink that could be revealed using special markers included with the books. These guides offered tiered hints ranging from subtle nudges to complete solutions, incorporating decoy questions to avoid spoiling the game. InvisiClues became bestsellers and were eventually incorporated into the Solid Gold re-releases as an in-game hint feature.

Interactive fiction

Infocom published interactive fiction paperbacks based on their games that allowed readers to select different story paths, similar to Choose Your Own Adventure books. However, these editions performed poorly in sales and were quickly withdrawn from the market.

Cornerstone

Despite their achievements in gaming, Infocom’s founders sought entry into business software markets such as those dominated by Lotus Development. In 1985 they released Cornerstone, a relational database product aimed at small businesses. While it received acclaim for its user-friendly interface and attractive packaging, sales reached only about 10,000 units—far below what was needed to recoup development expenses.

The product faced several challenges: its steep $495 price combined with copy-protected disks discouraged potential buyers; absence of a scripting language limited its appeal among database professionals; anticipated natural language query capabilities failed to materialize; it was restricted to IBM PC platforms despite built-in portability features; and performance was hindered by overhead from running on a virtual machine.

Changing marketplace

Infocom’s virtual machine architecture allowed support across numerous platforms—including less common ones—extending the lifespan of titles like Zork. However, by the mid-1980s, business computing increasingly centered on IBM PCs where cross-platform portability mattered less. At the same time, graphic adventure games surged in popularity; although Infocom initially resisted adding graphics and launched marketing campaigns ridiculing graphical games as inferior to text-based experiences fueled by imagination, this strategy only delayed the inevitable shift as graphics soon came to dominate the industry.

Acquisition by Activision

After Cornerstone failed commercially and game sales dropped, Infocom reduced its workforce by half. On June 13, 1986, Activision purchased Infocom for $7.5 million. Although the acquisition began with cooperative relations, tensions arose when Activision replaced CEO Jim Levy with Bruce Davis. Davis considered the purchase too costly and prioritized cutting expenses.

Davis implemented measures that undermined Infocom’s established approach: changing packaging led to higher costs and increased mistakes; marketing strategies shifted away from promoting steady-selling backlist titles toward focusing on newer releases that did not suit text-based games; production targets were doubled despite a smaller team; demands for graphical games intensified despite technical limitations—this contributed to the commercial failure of Fooblitzky. Additionally, acquisition expenses were accounted for against Infocom’s revenue streams.

Final years

By 1988, friction escalated between Activision management and Infocom employees amid dissatisfaction with project quality, including the poorly received Infocomics. In 1989, Activision moved Infocom’s development operations to California, effectively reducing it to a publishing imprint before shutting it down later that year due to rising costs and diminishing profits worsened by technical difficulties and a shortage of new releases. Key designers such as Steve Meretzky departed for companies like Legend Entertainment.

Activision itself faced challenges following the merger under Davis’ direction until Bobby Kotick acquired the company in 1991. Kotick reinstated the Activision brand and capitalized on legacy intellectual properties, including Infocom’s library. Between 1991 and 1992, Activision published themed compilations such as The Lost Treasures of Infocom, which excluded original feelies but preserved most games except those with expired licenses (notably works by Douglas Adams and James Clavell). A 1996 CD-ROM compilation omitted several major titles but featured some winners from interactive fiction contests. Under Kotick’s leadership, Return to Zork was developed and released under the Infocom label.

Eventually, Activision phased out the Infocom brand entirely. Since 2007, the trademark changed ownership multiple times; as of 2017, it is held by infocom.xyz according to Bob Bates.

Interactive fiction

• The Zork franchise:
  • Original Trilogy (Marc Blank & Dave Lebling):
    • Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (1980)
    • Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (1981)
    • Zork III: The Dungeon Master (1982)
  • Enchanter Trilogy:
    • Enchanter (1983, Blank & Lebling)
    • Sorcerer (1984, Steve Meretzky)
    • Spellbreaker (1985, Lebling)
  • Additional Zork titles:
    • Mini Zork I (1987)
    • Beyond Zork (1987)
    • Zork Zero (1988)
    • Zork: The Undiscovered Underground (1997)
• Planetfall series:
  • Planetfall (1983), Steve Meretzky
  • Stationfall (1987), Steve Meretzky
• Other significant interactive fiction works:
  • Deadline (1982), Marc Blank
  • Starcross (1982), Dave Lebling
  • Suspended: A Cryogenic Nightmare (1983), Michael Berlyn
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984), Meretzky & Douglas Adams
  • A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985), Steve Meretzky
  • Numerous others across mystery and fantasy genres

Additional titles

• Graphic adventure games:
  • Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 (1992)
  • Return to Zork (1993)
  • Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands (1996)
  • Zork Grand Inquisitor (1997)
• BattleTech series:
  • Developed by Westwood Studios in the late 1980s and early 1990s
• Other games:
  • Including titles like Fooblitzky, ‘‘Quarterstaff’’, ‘‘Mines of Titan’’, ‘‘Circuit's Edge’’
• Infocomics:
  • Interactive comic-style games launched in 1988

Collections

• A range of compilations including:
  • The Zork Trilogy (1986)
  • The Enchanter Trilogy (1986)
  • The Lost Treasures of Infocom I & II (1991–92)
  • Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom (1996)
  • Numerous themed anthologies released during the 1990s and early 2000s

Legacy

The majority of copyrights are held by Activision, with the exception of certain licensed properties such as those authored by Douglas Adams. Early iterations like the mainframe predecessor "Dungeon" are available for non-commercial use but remain restricted from commercial distribution. Preservation efforts have secured source code for many titles, notably through archives like Jason Scott's "Infocom Drive," which includes design documents and manuals; these resources have been made accessible on platforms like GitHub to support archival purposes.

Several games were reissued as Solid Gold editions that incorporated built-in InvisiClues hint systems. In 2012, Activision introduced mobile adaptations through iOS app bundles, though some licensed or later titles were excluded from these releases.

Infocom’s legacy endures with continued distribution via interpreters compatible with their Z-machine format across multiple platforms. A notable example is Zork’s inclusion as an easter egg in contemporary games such as Activision’s own Call of Duty: Black Ops.

External links

• Infocom company profile from MobyGames
• Infocom-The Master Storytellers Infocom history and updates from Activision