Infocom Fact Sheet
------------------ 4.2 - Jan 3, 1992
Infocom Fact Sheet
------------------
Compiled by Paul David Doherty
This file includes some information about Infocom's games and related
subjects. Maybe it is useful as a reference. Thanks to the many people
who made contributions. For suggestions and corrections, please mail me
at <h0142kdd@rz.hu-berlin.de> or <d.doherty@bamp.berlinet.in-berlin.de>.
You can obtain the most recent version of this file via FTP from
ftp.gmd.de (129.26.8.90), directory /if-archive/infocom.
List of contents:
I Infocom Games
II Versions
III Infocom Authors
IV Infocom Newsletters
V Infocom Chronology
I Infocom Games
================
This table lists all software products sold under the Infocom label. The
information is given in the form "PrC R Yr Title_of_program (Author)",
where PrC is the Product Code, R is the difficulty rating and Yr the year
of publication.
Every Infocom product had a specific Order Code which consisted of the
Product Code (to identify the program) and a System Code which identified
the platform for which this product was produced. For example, the Order
Code IM3-CO4 identifies the game "Suspect" (IM3) for the Commodore Amiga
(CO4). The Order Code was printed on the program disk as well as on the
box.
The following System Codes have been used:
AC1 Apricot IB1 IBM & 100% Compatibles
AP1 Apple II series (48 K 18-sec.) IB2 IBM & MS-DOS Compatibles
AP2 Apple Macintosh KA1 Kaypro II (CP/M)
AT1 Atari XL/XE (48 K, 810/1050) MS1 MS-DOS 2.0
AT2 Atari ST NE1 NEC PC-8000 (56 K, CP/M)
CO1 Commodore 64/128 (1541) NE2 NEC APC (CP/M-86)
CO2 ? OS1 Osborne (CP/M)
CO3 ? TA1 TRS-80 Model I (48 K, disk)
CO4 Commodore Amiga TA2 ?
CO5 Commodore 128 ONLY TA3 TRS-80 Model III (48 K, disk)
CP1 CP/M (2.0+, 48 K, 8") TA4 TRS-80 Color Computer (48 K, disk)
DE1 PDP-11 (RT-11) TI1 TI Professional
DE2 DEC Rainbow (CP/M) TI2 TI 99/4 A (48 K, disk)
EP1 Epson QX-10
Other supported platforms (probably without Product Codes): Commodore
Plus/4 and Schneider CPC (Amstrad).
There have been 4 difficulty ratings:
i - Introductory (Junior)
s - Standard
a - Advanced
e - Expert
I.1 Interactive Fiction (IF)
----------------------------
Fantasy
IZ0 i 85 Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams (Brian Moriarty)
IZ1 s 80 Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ2 a 81 Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ3 a 82 Zork III: The Dungeon Master (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ4 s 83 Enchanter (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ5 a 84 Sorcerer (Steve Meretzky)
IZ6 e 85 Spellbreaker (Dave Lebling)
IZ7 s 86 Trinity (Brian Moriarty)
IZ8 - 87 Beyond Zork (Brian Moriarty)
IZ9 - 88 Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (Steve Meretzky)
Science Fiction
IS1 e 82 Starcross (Dave Lebling)
IS2 e 83 Suspended (Mike Berlyn)
IS3 s 83 Planetfall (Steve Meretzky)
IS4 s 84 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams/Steve Meretzky)
IS5 a 85 A Mind Forever Voyaging (Steve Meretzky)
IS6 - 87 Stationfall (Steve Meretzky)
Mystery
IM1 e 82 Deadline (Marc Blank)
IM2 s 83 The Witness (Stu Galley)
IM3 a 84 Suspect (Dave Lebling)
IM4 s 85 Ballyhoo (Jeff O'Neill)
IM5 i 86 Moonmist (Stu Galley/Jim Lawrence)
Tales of Adventure
IA1 a 83 Infidel (Mike Berlyn/Patricia Fogleman)
IA2 i 84 Seastalker (Stu Galley/Jim Lawrence) *** first released as IK1
IA3 s 84 Cutthroats (Mike Berlyn/Jerry Wolper)
IA4 s 86 Hollywood Hijinx (Dave Anderson/Liz Cyr-Jones)
IA5 - 89 James Clavell's Shogun (Dave Lebling)
Comedy
IC1 s 86 Leather Goddesses of Phobos (Steve Meretzky)
IC2 - 87 Bureaucracy (Douglas Adams et al.)
IC3 - 87 Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It (Jeff O'Neill)
Horror
IH1 - 87 The Lurking Horror (Dave Lebling)
Romance
IR1 - 87 Plundered Hearts (Amy Briggs)
Espionage
IE1 - 87 Border Zone (Marc Blank)
Immortal Legends
CS1 - 87 Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (Bob Bates)
Chronicles
IJ1 - 89 Journey (Marc Blank)
Living Literature
IL1 - 89 Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur (Bob Bates/Duane Beck)
I.2 Samplers and Compilations
-----------------------------
The Four-In-One Sampler(s)
ID1 - ?? ?
ID2 - 84 [Excerpts from Zork I, Infidel, The Witness, Planetfall]
ID3 - 87 [Excerpts from Zork I, Leather Goddesses, Trinity and a
Wishbringer tutorial]
Trilogies
IT1 - 87 Zork Trilogy [IF1, IF2, IF3]
IT2 - 87 Enchanter Trilogy [IF4, IF5, IF6]
IT3 - 87 Classic Mystery Library [IM2, IM3, IM5]
IT4 - 87 Science Fiction Classics [IS4, IS3, IS5]
I.3 Non-IF
----------
Infocomics
SL1 - 88 Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen (Steve Meretzky)
SG1 - 88 Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (Amy Briggs)
SZ1 - 88 ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle (Elizabeth Langosy)
SZ2 - 88 ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom (Elizabeth Langosy)
Others
BC1 - 85 Cornerstone (Brian Berkowitz/Rich Ilson et al.)
GS1 - 86 Fooblitzky (Mike Berlyn et al.)
??? - 88 Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth (Scott Schmitz/Ken Updike &
Amy Briggs)
IF2 - 88 BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception (Westwood Ass.)
I.4 "Infocom" releases after Infocom closed down
------------------------------------------------
224 - 89 Mines of Titan (Westwood Ass.)
??? - 90 Circuit's Edge (Westwood Ass.)
??? - 91 BattleTech 2: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Westwood Ass.)
--- - 91 The Lost Treasures of Infocom
--- - 92 Leather Goddesses of Phobos II (Steve Meretzky)
--- - 92 The Lost Treasures of Infocom II
--- - 92 Return to Zork
II Versions
============
This table lists all versions of Infocom IF that I know of.
II.1 Legend
-----------
Game : This is the name of the game. "Solid Gold" releases (which have
the same Product Codes as normal ones) are marked "SG".
? : Versions marked with an "*" are the ones I have only heard of
but never actually seen.
V.A : Version number (a.k.a. "Release") and assembly date (a.k.a.
"Serial number"). Typing VERSION in a game usually gives you
this information. [Assembly dates in "<>" could be fakes!]
Z-C : The Z-Code version (1...6) of the data file. An "s" marks a data
file that requires an interpreter with sound (not only beep)
capabilities.
The Z-Code versions correspond with the development stages of ZIP
("Zork Interpretive Program", the virtual interpreter) in the
following way: ZIP Z-Code
---------------
ZIP 1-3
EZIP (LZIP) 4 ("extended")
XZIP 5 ("experimental")
YZIP 6
Length : The "real" length of the data file, as indicated in the "game
length" field of the data file header. Usually, data files are
slightly longer because they have been padded to a page size of
256 or 512 Bytes. Older data files (Z-code 1, 2 and early 3) have
been marked with "---"; these files have no game length field in
the header, and they also lack the $VERIFY command.
II.2 Versions
-------------
Game ? V.A Z-C Length
----------------------------------------------------
A Mind Forever Voyaging 77.850814 4 262016
79.851122 4 262036
Arthur 54.890606 6 270848
74.890714 6 269200
Ballyhoo 97.851218 3 128556
Beyond Zork 47.870915 5 261952 1)
49.870917 5 261900
* 51.870923 5 ?
57.871221 5 261388
Border Zone 9.871008 5 178372
Bureaucracy 86.870212 4 243144
116.870602 4 243340
Cutthroats 23.840809 3 112558
Deadline 26.821108 3 108372
27.831005 3 108454
Enchanter 10.830810 3 109126
16.831118 3 109234
24.851118 3 108638
29.860820 3 111126
Four-In-One Sampler ID2 * 26.840731 ? ?
Hitchhiker's Guide 47.840914 3 112622
56.841221 3 113444
58.851002 3 113332
59.851108 3 113334
Hitchhiker's Guide SG 31.871119 5 158412
Hollywood Hijinx 37.861215 3 109650
Infidel 22.830916 3 93556
Journey 30.890322 6 280472
83.890706 6 282312
Leather Goddesses * 118.860325 3 ?
* 50.860711 3 ?
59.860730 3 129022
Leather Goddesses SG 4.880405 5 159928
Lurking Horror 203.870506 3 128986
* 219.870912 3s ?
221.870918 3s 129944
Moonmist 4.860918 3 129002
9.861022 3 128866
Nord and Bert 19.870722 4 170284
Planetfall 20.830708 3 107958
29.840118 3 109052
37.851003 3 109398
Planetfall SG 10.880531 5 136560
Plundered Hearts 26.870730 3 128962
Seastalker 15.840501 3 117738
15.840522 3 117728
16.850515 3 117752
16.850603 3 117762
Sherlock 21.871214 5 188444
26.880127 5s 190180
Shogun 295.890321 6 341912
322.890706 6 344816
Sorcerer 4.840131 3 109734
6.840508 3 109482
13.851021 3 108692
15.851108 3 108682
18.860904 3 111052
Spellbreaker 63.850916 3 128480
87.860904 3 128916
Starcross 15.820901 3 84984
17.821021 3 83792
Stationfall 107.870430 3 128934
Suspect 14.841005 3 118692
Suspended * 5.830222 3 ?
7.830419 3 105500
8.830521 3 105492
8.840521 3 105584
Trinity 11.860509 4 262016
12.860926 4 262064
Wishbringer 68.850501 3 128952
69.850920 3 128904
Wishbringer SG 23.880706 5 164712
Witness 13.830524 3 102608
20.831119 3 104740
21.831208 3 104704
22.840924 3 104664
Zork I * 5.< > 1 ---
25.820515 3 (75808) 2)
28.821013 3 76018
30.830330 3 76324
75.830929 3 84868
76.840509 3 84874
88.840726 3 84876
Zork I SG 52.871125 5 105264
Zork II * 7.<UG3AU5> 2 ---
18.820517 3 ---
22.830331 3 82920
48.840904 3 89912
Zork III 10.820818 3 82334
15.830331 3 82558
15.840518 3 82642
16.<823242> 3 81626 3)
17.840727 3 82714
Zork Zero 296.881019 6 295536
366.890323 6 296376
393.890714 6 299968
II.3 Footnotes
--------------
1) The IBM version is longer because the character definitions (used for
the runes and similar things) are simply appended to the data file. On
other platforms (e.g. Amiga and Atari ST), the definitions are in a
separate font file.
2) I have seen ZorkI.025 with and without a game length field in the
header. I don't know how it was originally released by Infocom.
3) Either a beta test version or a fake.
II.4 Graphics Files
-------------------
At the moment I only have information about the IBM graphics files. I don't
know whether the "version numbers" shown by the VERSION command (byte 0x1b
of the graphic file) are really version numbers.
The MS-DOS versions of the YZIP games came with 3 graphics files: for
MCGA/VGA graphics cards (*.MG1), for EGA (*.EG1) and for CGA (*.CG1). You
could chose the graphics file via command line options; the syntax was
"YZIP /D[M,E,C]". EGA support was the default.
Arthur
(Darrell Myers/Tanya Isaacson/Sophie Green/Donna Dennison/Jim Sullivan)
Pix 27 MG1: 292279 (89-07-14 11:32) [CRC-16: f9d5]
Pix 15 CG1: 209359 (89-07-13 18:50) [CRC-16: 106b]
Journey
(Donald Langosy)
Pix 2 MG1: 465920 (?) [CRC-16: 4b17]
Shogun
(Donald Langosy)
Pix 9 MG1: 213504 (?) [CRC-16: a3ff]
Zork0
(James Shook & Tanya Allan/Denise Audette/Andy Briggs/Rob Dunlavey/
Sophia Green/Joy Pulver/Charlie Voner)
Pix 29 EG1: 333654 (89-07-13 17:48) [CRC-16: c5aa]
CG1: 244507 (89-07-14 16:42) [CRC-16: 3c7e]
Pix 14 MG1: 226816 (?) [CRC-16: 384a]
II.5 Title Pictures
-------------------
The 4 YZIP games had title pictures which were incorporated in the
graphics files. The only other game with a title picture was the Atari
ST version of "Beyond Zork".
II.6 Font Files
---------------
It seems that the only game that needed special character definitions was
"Beyond Zork". Infocom put these special characters in a separate font
file (called "Graphic.Data" on the Amiga and "FONT3.DAT" on the Atari
ST). In the MS-DOS version, the font file was appended to the game's data
file.
The Amiga versions of "Journey" and "Arthur" also came with font files
(called "Char.Data"), but it seems like the games do not use them. (The
"special characters" for "Arthur" are just the usual ASCII characters,
while the "Journey" font file is identical with the one from "Beyond
Zork".)
II.7 Boss Keys
--------------
The (original) MS-DOS version of "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" came with
a boss key picture ("LEATHER.DAT") displayed by the Z-Machine (version
3 N).
III Infocom Authors
====================
This table lists the 10 most famous Infocom implementors and all the games
each one of them has written.
A "#" after a year means that the game has not been finished or not (yet?)
been released.
III.1 "Hollywood" Dave Anderson
-------------------------------
Hollywood Hijinx <+ L.Cyr-Jones> 86 (Infocom)
III.2 Bob Bates
---------------
Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels 87 (Infocom)
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur <+ D.Beck> 89 (Infocom)
Robin Hood 89# (Infocom)
Timequest 91 (Legend)
Gateway <+ G.Dahlgren/M.Lindner/M.Verdu/D.Beck> 92 (Legend)
III.3 Michael Berlyn
--------------------
Oo-Topos <+ Muffy Berlyn> 81 (Penguin)
Cyborg ~82 (Salient ?)
Suspended 83 (Infocom)
Infidel <+ P.Fogleman> 83 (Infocom)
Cutthroats <+ J.Wolper> 84 (Infocom)
Fooblitzky 85/6 (Infocom)
Tass Times In Tonetown <+ Muffy Berlyn> 86 (Interplay)
Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. ?? (First Row)
Altered Destiny 90 (Accolade)
III.4 Marc S. Blank
-------------------
Zork <+ P.D.Lebling/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels> 77-9 (MIT)
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire <+ P.D.Lebling> 80 (Infocom)
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz <+ P.D.Lebling> 81 (Infocom)
Zork III: The Dungeon Master <+ P.D.Lebling> 81 (Infocom)
Deadline 82 (Infocom)
Enchanter <+ P.D.Lebling> 83 (Infocom)
Border Zone 87 (Infocom)
Journey 88 (Infocom)
III.5 Amy Briggs
----------------
Plundered Hearts 87 (Infocom)
Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams 88 (Infocom/TSP)
Quarterstaff <+ S.Schmitz/K.Updike> 88 (Infocom)
III.6 Stuart W. Galley
----------------------
The Witness 83 (Infocom)
Seastalker <+ J.Lawrence> 84 (Infocom)
Moonmist <+ J.Lawrence> 86 (Infocom)
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe 87# (Infocom)
III.7 P. David Lebling
----------------------
Zork <+ M.S.Blank/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels> 77-9 (MIT)
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire <+ M.S.Blank> 80 (Infocom)
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz <+ M.S.Blank> 81 (Infocom)
Zork III: The Dungeon Master <+ M.S.Blank> 81 (Infocom)
Starcross 82 (Infocom)
Enchanter <+ M.S.Blank> 83 (Infocom)
Suspect 84 (Infocom)
Spellbreaker 85 (Infocom)
The Lurking Horror 87 (Infocom)
James Clavell's Shogun 88 (Infocom)
III.8 Steven Eric Meretzky
--------------------------
Planetfall 83 (Infocom)
Sorcerer 84 (Infocom)
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy <+ D.N.Adams> 84 (Infocom)
A Mind Forever Voyaging 85 (Infocom)
Leather Goddesses Of Phobos 86 (Infocom)
Stationfall 87 (Infocom)
Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen 88 (Infocom/TSP)
Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz 88 (Infocom)
Titanic 89# (Infocom)
Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls 90 (Legend)
Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance 91 (Legend)
Leather Goddesses Of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the
Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X 92 (Infocom)
Spellcasting 301: Spring Break 92 (Legend)
[Meretzky also wrote 4 "Zork" interactive novels in 1983:
1 The Forces of Krill
2 The Malifestro Quest
3 The Cavern of Doom
4 Conquest at Quendor]
III.9 "Professor" Brian Moriarty
--------------------------------
Adventure in the Fifth Dimension ~83 (Analog Comp.)
Crash Dive! ~83 (Analog Comp.)
Trinity 84-6 (Infocom)
Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams 85 (Infocom)
Beyond Zork 87 (Infocom)
Loom 90 (Lucasfilm)
III.10 Jeff O'Neill
-------------------
Ballyhoo 85 (Infocom)
Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of it 87 (Infocom)
Zork I (German Version) 88# (Infocom)
IV Infocom Newsletters
=======================
There have been 24 issues of Infocom's official newsletter.
IV.1 Newsletter of the "Zork User's Group"
------------------------------------------
1:
2:
3:
4:
IV.2 "The New Zork Times"
-------------------------
5:
6:
7:
8:
9: Vol III, No 4 Fall 84
10: Vol IV, No 1 Winter 85
11: Vol IV, No 2 Spring 85
12: Vol IV, No 2[sic] Summer 85
13: Vol IV, No 4 Fall 85
14: Vol V, No 1 Winter 86
IV.3 "* * * *" (12 pages)
--------------
15: Vol V, No 4[sic] Spring 86 Trinity
IV.4 "The Status Line" (12 pages except where indicated)
----------------------
16: Vol V, No 3 Summer 86 Moonmist/LGOP
17: Vol V, No 4 (8p) Fall 86 Hollywood Hijinx/Enchanter Tril.
18: Vol VI, No 1 Winter/Spring 87 Bureaucracy/Zork Trilogy
19: Vol VI, No 2 Summer 87 Lurking Horror/Stationfall
20: Vol VI, No 3 Fall 87 Plundered Hearts/Nord and Bert
21: Vol VI, No 4 Winter 87 Beyond Zork/Border Zone
22: Vol VII, No 1 Winter/Spring 88 Sherlock/Infocomics 1-3
23: Vol VII, No 2 (8p) Summer 88 Infocomics 4
24: Vol VII, No 3 (8p) Fall 88 BattleTech/Zork Zero/Quarterstaff
The Status Line's successor, "Escape", was never published.
IV.5 "InfoDope"
---------------
[For internal circulation only]
V Infocom Chronology
=====================
69-70: Programming language Muddle (later called MDL) developed by
several people affiliated with the MIT's Dynamic Modelling (DM)
Group (Gerald Sussman, Carl Hewitt, Dave Cressey, Chris Reeve,
Bruce K. Daniels). The MDL development system runs on a DEC
PDP-10 under ITS.
Dec 76: First preliminary meeting of future Infocom founders.
Jun 77: "Zork" created by Marc Blank, Bruce K. Daniels, Tim Anderson, and
Dave Lebling. Written in MDL.
Feb 79: Last puzzles added to the mainframe "Zork".
Apr 79: First article about "Zork" published.
6/22/79: Infocom founded by ~10 DM Group members (Tim Anderson, Joel
Berez, Brian Berkowitz, Marc Blank, Scott Cutler, Stu Galley,
Dave Lebling, Al Vezza et al.).
Aug 79: Marc Blank becomes Infocom's first Director.
Nov 79: Joel Berez elected Infocom's President.
Mar 80: Infocom gets own P.O. box.
Jun 80: Agreement with Personal Software Inc. to publish "Zork I".
Nov 80: "Zork I".
First sold copy: PDP-11 version.
Dec 80: ZIP for TRS-80 Model I (written by Scott Cutler).
Until 9/81, PS sells ~1500 copies of this "Zork I" version.
Feb 81: Apple II version of "Zork I". Over 6000 copies sold in 8 months.
(ZIP by Bruce K. Daniels)
Mar 81: Chris Reeve becomes Director.
May 81: TRS-80 Model II version (never sold).
Jun 81: First 2 employees (Joel Berez among them).
Zork II agreement with Personal Software.
Sep 81: Infocom moved to 6 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston.
Mort Rosenthal becomes Manager of Marketing.
Oct 81: End of the sales agreement with PS. (Infocom buys all Apple II
versions of "Zork I" back from PS.)
Nov 81: "Zork II".
Repackaging of "Zork I".
end-81: ZORK User's Group (P-O-Box 20923, Milwaukee, WI 53220-0923)
founded by Mike Dornbrook to handle requests for hints and
merchandise. In 1983, it has 20000 members.
1/1/82: Infocom moves to 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Marc Blank becomes vice-president (VP) for product development.
Apr 82: "Deadline".
New ZIPs for Atari XL and CP/M.
May 82: Marc Blank meets Mike Berlyn.
Jun 82: ZIP for IBM-PC.
Employees: 4.
Aug 82: ZIPs for TRS-80 Model III and NEC APC.
Sep 82: "Zork III".
"Starcross".
Oct 82: Business Products division founded. "Cornerstone" development
begins.
Dec 82: DECsystem-20 bought for development.
end-82: Sales: $1.65 million (net income: $335.000).
Mar 83: "Suspended".
ZIP for DEC Rainbow.
Apr 83: ZIPs for Commodore 64 and TI Professional.
Jun 83: "The Witness".
Employees: 20.
Aug 83: "Planetfall".
Sep 83: "Enchanter".
Nov 83: "Infidel".
ZIP for DECmate.
Dec 83: ZIP for Tandy-2000.
Ray Stata elected Director.
end-83: Sales: $6 million (net income: $526.000).
Jan 84: Al Vezza became Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Feb 84: ZIPs for Kaypro II and Osborne.
Mar 84: "Sorcerer".
ZIPs for MS-DOS and TI 99/4 A.
John Brackett new General Manager (GM).
May 84: Second DECsystem-20 bought.
Jun 84: "Seastalker".
ZIP for Apple Macintosh.
John O'Leary new GM.
Employees: 50.
Sep 84: "Cutthroats".
Oct 84: "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
Nov 84: "Suspect".
Announcement of "Cornerstone".
Dec 84: Management restructured.
end-84: Sales: $10 million.
Jan 85: "Cornerstone".
For promotion of "Suspect", Infocom rents a Las Vegas mansion
and invites ~5000 people to become suspects to a murder.
Mar 85: ZIP for Epson QX-10.
Apr 85: Move to 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140.
ZIP for Apricot.
Jun 85: "Wishbringer".
Employees: 100.
Aug 85: ZIP for Atari ST.
Sep 85: "A Mind Forever Voyaging".
First layoffs due to "Cornerstone"s commercial failure (despite
hiring a separate sales and marketing team).
Oct 85: "Spellbreaker".
Dec 85: Business Products division laid off.
ZIP for Amiga.
end-85: Sales: $11.5 million.
Jan 86: Marc Blank and CEO Al Vezza leave.
Joel Berez new CEO. (He remains president.)
Feb 86: "Ballyhoo".
Price cut for "Cornerstone" (from $495 to $99.95).
Activision merger: Activision Inc. (Mountain View, CA) buys
Infocom for a stock swap worth $7.5...9.0 million.
Employees: 40.
Mar 86: "Fooblitzky".
Jun 86: "Trinity".
EZIP for Commodore 128.
GM John O'Leary leaves.
Sep 86: "Leather Goddesses of Phobos".
Oct 86: "Moonmist".
Nov 86: "Enchanter Trilogy".
87-89: Losses of ~$200.000 per fiscal quarter.
Jan 87: "Zork Trilogy".
Feb 87: "Hollywood Hijinx".
Mar 87: "Bureaucracy".
Jun 87: "Stationfall".
"The Lurking Horror".
Sep 87: "Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It".
"Plundered Hearts".
Oct 87: "Beyond Zork".
Apple IIgs interpreter.
Nov 87: "Border Zone".
Jan 88: "Sherlock".
Mike Dornbrook new VP.
Mar 88: "Lane Mastodon".
"Gamma Force".
Chris Reeve leaves.
Apr 88: "ZorkQuest I".
Jun 88: Employees: 30.
Jul 88: Joel Berez resigns. Joe Ybarra becomes new president.
Aug 88: "ZorkQuest II".
Joel Berez leaves.
Sep 88: "Quarterstaff".
Oct 88: "Zork Zero" (Macintosh version).
Nov 88: "BattleTech" (IBM version).
Mar 89: "Shogun" (Amiga and Mac).
"Journey" (Amiga and Mac).
Amiga version of "Zork Zero".
Commodore 64 version of "BattleTech".
May 89: Of the 26 employees, 15 are laid off. The 11 others are offered
the chance to move to Silicon Valley, but only 5 accept,
including President Joe Ybarra and GM Robert Sears.
Jun 89: Activision (now Mediagenic) moves Infocom from Cambridge, MA to
Menlo Park, CA.
Jul 89: "Arthur".
YZIPs for MS-DOS, Apple II and Apple II GS.
------- *** -------
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