Editing Infocom (section)

===Later years===
By 1988, rumors spread of disputes between Activision and Infocom.<ref name="cgw198804">{{cite magazine| title=Rumored Activision/Infocom Rift Unfounded |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |issue=46 |date=April 1988 |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1988&pub=2&id=46 |access-date=May 21, 2016 |page=9}}</ref> Infocom employees reportedly believed that Activision gave poorer-quality games to Infocom, such as [[Tom Snyder Productions]]' unsuccessful ''Infocomics''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Master Storytellers did (Info-)Comics (and nobody took notice) |url=https://www.goodolddays.net/article/id%2C27/The-Master-Storytellers-did-%28Info-%29Comics-%28and-nobody-took-notice%29.html |website=The Good Old Days |access-date=14 July 2021}}</ref> Activision moved Infocom development to California in 1989, and the company was now just a [[Imprint (trade name)|publishing label]].{{r|wilson199111}} Rising costs and falling profits, exacerbated by the lack of new products in 1988 and technical issues with its DOS products, caused Activision to close Infocom in 1989,<ref name="CGW"/> after which some of the remaining Infocom designers such as Steve Meretzky moved to the company [[Legend Entertainment]], founded by [[Bob Bates]] and [[Mike Verdu]], to continue creating games in the Infocom tradition.

Activision itself was struggling in the marketplace following Davis' promotion to CEO. Activision had rebranded itself as Mediagenic and tried to produce business productivity software, but became significantly in debt. In 1991, Mediagenic was purchased by [[Bobby Kotick]], who put into measures immediately to try to turn the company around, which included returning to its Activision name, and putting to use its past IP properties. This included the Infocom games; Kotick recognized the value of the branding of ''Zork'' and other titles.<ref name="brick">{{cite journal | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980128082919/http://www.newmedia.com/NewMedia/96/09/screens/Activision_Rebound.html | url=http://www.newmedia.com:80/NewMedia/96/09/screens/Activision_Rebound.html | title=Activision: Reorganized, Redefined and on the Rebound | date=June 24, 1996 | author=Sengstack, Jeff | archive-date=January 28, 1998 | journal=NewMedia | url-status=dead | access-date=January 23, 2020 }}</ref> Activision began to sell bundles of the Infocom games that year, packaged as themed collections (usually by genre, such as the Science Fiction collection); in 1991, they published ''[[The Lost Treasures of Infocom]]'', followed in 1992 by ''[[The Lost Treasures of Infocom|The Lost Treasures of Infocom II]]''. These compilations featured nearly every game produced by Infocom before 1988. (''[[Leather Goddesses of Phobos]]'' was not included in either bundle, but could be ordered via a coupon included with ''Lost Treasures II''.) The compilations lacked the "feelies" that came with each game, but in some cases included photographs of them. In 1996, the first bundles were followed by ''[[Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom]]'', a single CD-ROM which contained the works of both collections. This release, however, was missing ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' and ''Shogun'' because the licenses from Douglas Adams' and [[James Clavell]]'s estates had expired. Under Kotick's leadership, Activision also developed ''[[Return to Zork]]'', published under its Infocom label.<ref name="brick"/>

Eventually, Activision abandoned the "Infocom" name. The brand name was registered by Oliver Klaeffling of Germany in 2007, then was abandoned the following year. The Infocom trademark was then held by Pete Hottelet's [[Omni Consumer Products (company)|Omni Consumer Products]], who registered the name around the same time as Klaeffling in 2007.<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://gameshelf.jmac.org/2010/02/that-new-official-infocom-web.html |title=''That "new" "official" Infocom web site'' |publisher=The Gameshelf}}</ref> As of March 2017, the trademark is owned by infocom.xyz, according to Bob Bates.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://steamcommunity.com/app/532980/discussions/0/1488861734108749074/|title=Is this going to be an Infocom branded game? :: Thaumistry: In Charm's Way General Discussions|website=steamcommunity.com|language=en|access-date=October 21, 2017}}</ref>