Infocom

Infocom
Type	Former subsidiary of Activision
Founded	June 22, 1979 (closed on May 5, 1989)
Headquarters	Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Key people	Tim Anderson, founder Joel Berez, founder Marc Blank, founder Mike Broos, founder Scott Cutler, founder Stu Galley, founder Dave Lebling, founder J. C. R. Licklider, founder Chris Reeve, founder Al Vezza, founder
Industry	Video games
Products	Zork series
Number of people	Not disclosed
Website	N/A

Infocom was an American video game developer and publisher.

Foundation

Infocom was founded on June 22, 1979 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology students and staff including Tim Anderson, Joel Berez, Marc Blank, Mike Broos, Scott Cutler, Stu Galley, Dave Lebling, J. C. R. Licklider, Chris Reeve, and Al Vezza.

It was founded to commercially produce ports of Zork for home computers of the time. Because of its size, Zork was split into three parts.

A scripting language known as ZIL, or Z-code was created to quickly port the games to multiple systems. The ZIL scripts were executed by an interpreter known as Z-machine. This language was extended and used for their other text adventure games until the company's closure.

Acquisition by Activision and closure

Activision acquired Infocom on June 13, 1986. Infocom was closed on May 5, 1989.

Infocom games

Title	Release	System	Notes
Zork I	1980	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 16, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, PC-9800, PC-8000, PlayStation, Plus/4, Tatung Einstein, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo
Zork II	1981	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 16, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, PC-8000, PlayStation, Plus/4, Tatung Einstein, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo
Deadline	1982	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, Osborne 1, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Starcross	1982	Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Plus/4, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Zork III	1982	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 16, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, PC-8000, PlayStation, Plus/4, Tatung Einstein, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo
Enchanter	1983	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, APC, Apple II, Apricot PC, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, CP/M, DOS, iOS, Kaypro II, Mac OS, Osborne 1, PC-9801, PDP-9, PDP-10, PDP-11, Rainbow 100, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Infidel	1983	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Planetfall	1983	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, APC, Apple II, Apricot PC, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, CP/M, DOS, iOS, Kaypro II, Mac OS, Osborne 1, PC-9801, Rainbow 100, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Spellbreaker	1983	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS
Suspended: A Cryogenic Nightmare	1983	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, Plus/4, TI-99/A, TRS-80
The Witness	1983	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Seastalker	1984	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Cutthroats	1984	Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy	1984	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Apricot PC, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Browser, Commodore 64, CP/M, DOS, iOS, Kaypro II, Mac OS, Osborne 1, QX-10, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Sorcerer	1984	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, APC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Kaypro II, Mac OS, Osborne 1, RT-11, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Suspect	1984	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Kaypro II, Mac OS
Ballyhoo	1985	Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 128, DOS, Mac OS
A Mind Forever Voyaging	1985	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, TRS-80 CoCo
Wishbringer	1985	Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 128, DOS, Mac OS
Hollywood Hijinx	1986	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Leather Goddesses of Phobos	1986	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Moonmist	1986	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Moonmist	1986	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, iOS, Mac OS, TI-99/A, TRS-80
Border Zone	1987	Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS
Bureaucracy	1987	Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 128, DOS, Mac OS
The Lurking Horror	1987	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, DOS, Mac OS
Beyond Zork	1987	Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 128, DOS, iOS, Mac OS
Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It	1987	Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS
Plundered Hearts	1987	Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS
Mini Zork I: The Great Underground Empire	1987	Commodore 64	A shrunken Zork I designed to fit on a cassette tape. Sold commercially and included for free in the issue #67 of Zzap!64 magazine.
Stationfall	1987	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, DOS, iOS, Mac OS
Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels	1988	Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Mac OS
Zork Zero	1988	Amiga, Apple II, DOS, iOS, Mac OS
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur	1989	Amiga, Apple II, DOS, Mac OS
James Clavell's Shōgun	1989	Amiga, Apple II, DOS, Mac OS
Journey	1989	Amiga, Apple II, DOS, Mac OS
The Lost Treasures of Infocom	1991	Amiga, Apple II, DOS, iOS, Mac OS	Includes Ballyhoo, Beyond Zork, Deadline, Enchanter, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Infidel, The Lurking Horror, Moonmist, Planetfall, Sorcerer, Spellbreaker, Suspect, Starcross, Stationfall, Suspended: A Cryogenic Nightmare, The Witness, Zork I, Zork II, Zork III, and Zork Zero.
The Zork Anthology	1994	DOS, Mac OS	Includes Beyond Zork, Planetfall, Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III.
Zork: The Undiscovered Underground	1997	DOS	Created by Infocom co-founder Marc Blank, as well as Michael Berlyn and G. Kevin Wilson for Activision under the Infocom label.
Milliways	2008	DOS	Prototype of a Hitchhiker's Guide sequel developed in 1988.