in 1986,
which had bought the company but was now alarmed by a rape scene and
some Chinese black magic. The computer games audience was sliding downward
in age.

▲
Infocom's intention to explore byways of the new medium was genuine, but
not of course altruistic, and its business history throws a good deal
of light on its decisions. The extent of Infocom's commercial success
is often exaggerated, not in its scale (at one time a quarter of U.S.
homes owning computers had bought the product) but in its duration.
Typical sales per new title rose from 10,000 in 1981 to 50,000 in 1983–6,
falling below 20,000 again in 1987–9. The exceptions were the
‘Zork’ trilogy, which sold 1,000,000 units over the decade
– which explains if not excuses the later sequels – and
‘The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy’ at 250,000,into loss. In June 1986 Activision had bought Infocom, in what
amounted to an agreed merger, for stock valued at around $8 million: at
about five years' gross income, this was a high price, or would have
been if the stock had in fact been worth that. Infocom still had fifteen
titles ahead, including a few of its best, but disputes over branding,
marketing and the division of profits and losses produced disquiet, as
did a time-consuming lawsuit about the
state of the books when the company
changed hands; while Activision had its own travails. Expected sales
from the Hitchhiker's sequel ‘Restaurant’ were an essential
part of the business plan every year from 1985 to 1989, while Meretzky,
Lebling, Jeff O'Neill and Amy Briggs were each briefly in the frame
as the unlucky programmer. The project was stymied in 1985–6