Microsoft has made a trio of beloved text-based adventure games open to the public, as Zork I, II, and III have been released under the permissive MIT License. The move comes courtesy of collaboration between Microsoft's Open Source Programs Office and Jason Scott, digital archivist at Internet Archive fame.
For fans of old-school gaming, this is a welcome development. Text-based adventure games may not be as popular as they once were, but preserving classic titles like Zork remains crucial. The franchise was created by a group of students at MIT in the late 1970s and has since become an iconic part of gaming history.
While only the code itself is now open-source, other elements such as commercial packaging and marketing materials will remain under lock and key. Microsoft did acquire Activision in 2022, including the rights to Zork, which had previously been owned by Infocom. Interestingly, there was a failed attempt at acquiring these publishing rights back in the 1980s, only for them to land with Microsoft ultimately.
This release marks the first time that the original Zork source code has been made available under a clear license. Scott initially uploaded it to GitHub in 2019, but the licensing situation remained murky, leaving room for potential takedown requests from either Activision or Microsoft. With this change, however, any such requests are now off the table.
Microsoft's decision to make Zork open-source is seen as an effort to give back to the gaming community and contribute positively to history. By collaborating with Jason Scott, the company has successfully submitted upstream pull requests to the historical source repositories of these classic games, ensuring their preservation for future generations.
For fans of old-school gaming, this is a welcome development. Text-based adventure games may not be as popular as they once were, but preserving classic titles like Zork remains crucial. The franchise was created by a group of students at MIT in the late 1970s and has since become an iconic part of gaming history.
While only the code itself is now open-source, other elements such as commercial packaging and marketing materials will remain under lock and key. Microsoft did acquire Activision in 2022, including the rights to Zork, which had previously been owned by Infocom. Interestingly, there was a failed attempt at acquiring these publishing rights back in the 1980s, only for them to land with Microsoft ultimately.
This release marks the first time that the original Zork source code has been made available under a clear license. Scott initially uploaded it to GitHub in 2019, but the licensing situation remained murky, leaving room for potential takedown requests from either Activision or Microsoft. With this change, however, any such requests are now off the table.
Microsoft's decision to make Zork open-source is seen as an effort to give back to the gaming community and contribute positively to history. By collaborating with Jason Scott, the company has successfully submitted upstream pull requests to the historical source repositories of these classic games, ensuring their preservation for future generations.
, finally! Zork I, II, and III are available for us to play and mod, thanks to Microsoft's awesome move 
. It's about time these classics were made public again 
. I mean, who doesn't love exploring a digital cave filled with treasure? 
The fact that the original source code is now under the MIT License means it's open for anyone to work on and share, which is super cool 
.
. Jason Scott is a legend in his own right, and collaborating with him was the perfect way for Microsoft to make this happen 
. I just hope we'll see more classic games get the same treatment 
. Now, who's up for diving into Zork and solving some puzzles? 
. And can you imagine how many noobs got introduced to gaming back in the day playing these games? It's awesome that Microsoft is contributing positively and giving back to the community 
. I can imagine how amazing it must've been for the creators back in the day to get to share their work with so many people. And I love that Microsoft is making an effort to preserve gaming history, it's pretty cool 
.
plus, it's awesome to see jason scott's work involved here - he's a total legend when it comes to digital archiving.
and the fact that they're releasing it under the mit license is pretty cool too, i guess it means more people can use and modify the code without any major issues...or at least, not as many 
so they're making Zork I, II, and III available now, but only because Jason Scott uploaded it to GitHub in 2019 and Microsoft had no choice but to follow suit? 
still doesn't really add up to me... I mean, if we want these classic games to be preserved, shouldn't the source code been open-source all along? 
!
let's hope this sets a precedent for other companies to follow suit and give back to gaming history 
I'm super hyped that Zork is now open-source!! 
they're prob tryin 2 make a good PR spin out of this now that they got the rights to zork 2 years ago. and what's up wit dis "MIT License" tho? is it just another way for them 2 say "hey we're open 2 ur concerns, but not really"? 
️! I just hope this opens up more doors for new developers to play around with and create some fresh Zork vibes 
. Microsoft, you're not so bad after all 
. It's not just about the games themselves, but also about the culture and community that surrounds them 
!