Infocom co-founders to get AIAS Pioneer Award

Dave Lebling and Marc Blank will receive the Pioneer Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS). Wait, who? The two are co-founders of Playdom, best known for their work on the classic text-based adventure Zork and Enchanter series.

"The Pioneer Award is reserved for individuals whose career-spanning work has helped shape and define the interactive entertainment industry with the creation of a technological approach or the birth of a new genre," the AIAS explains. Previous winners included Activision co-founder David Crane and Atari game designer Ed Logg.

Infocom was founded in 1979. Legling and Blank went on to co-author Zorks 1 through 3 and Enchanter. Lebling went on to write Spellbreaker, Starcross, Suspect, The Lurking Horror, and James Clavell's Shogun. Blank moved on to write interactive fiction games Border Zone and Journey.

"Great storytelling with a healthy dose of wit is the foundation of everything we create in the interactive entertainment industry," AIAS president Martin Rae said.