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Microsoft Opens Zork Trilogy Code Under MIT License

11/20/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Microsoft, Xbox, Activision, and Microsoft’s Open Source Programs Office released Zork, Zork II, and Zork III under the MIT License.
The open-source status covers the game code, while packaging and trademarks remain proprietary, and the original 2019 GitHub upload lacked a license.
Microsoft acquired Zork through its 2022 purchase of Activision, which had obtained it from Infocom in the late 1980s.

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Story summary

Microsoft, Xbox, Activision, and Microsoft’s Open Source Programs Office released Zork, Zork II, and Zork III under the MIT License.
The open-source status covers the game code, while packaging and trademarks remain proprietary, and the original 2019 GitHub upload lacked a license.
Microsoft acquired Zork through its 2022 purchase of Activision, which had obtained it from Infocom in the late 1980s.