Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA nonprofit organization that maintains, preserves, and supports the tools, archives, databases, forums, and events of the interactive fiction community.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation (IFTF) is a United States nonprofit charitable organization devoted to sustaining the technical and cultural infrastructure of interactive fiction. It was established on June 30, 2016, at a time when many important interactive-fiction resources depended on volunteer maintainers, aging software, community hosting, and informal preservation practices. Rather than functioning as a conventional game publisher or commercial software company, IFTF serves as a stewardship organization for the ecosystem surrounding text adventures, parser-based games, hypertext fiction, narrative games, authoring systems, and related forms of digital storytelling. Its work combines preservation, hosting, community support, and institutional continuity. Since 2016, the foundation has operated the Interactive Fiction Competition, commonly known as IFComp. The annual event had already existed since 1995 and gives independent creators a public venue for presenting new interactive-fiction works. Through its operation of the competition, IFTF helps maintain one of the community's most visible recurring programs for discovery, criticism, and participation. In 2017, IFTF took responsibility for the Interactive Fiction Archive, a long-running repository that had been operating since 1992. The archive preserves software, documentation, websites, technical materials, and other historical resources. Its contents include materials associated with Inform 6, the Treaty of Babel standards, the Z-machine, and Glulx, all of which are significant to the development and distribution of interactive fiction. The archive's role is not limited to storing finished games; it also preserves the technical and documentary environment needed to understand how those works were created and played. The foundation expanded its community infrastructure activities in 2019 by supporting IntFiction, an online forum that had served interactive-fiction discussion since 2006. That same year it established NarraScope, an annual conference focused on narrative games. These activities give the field places for conversation, presentation, criticism, and professional or scholarly exchange beyond individual game releases. In 2021, IFTF began operating the Interactive Fiction Database, or IFDB. Founded by Michael J. Roberts in 2007, IFDB provides metadata and review functions for interactive-fiction works, making it easier for players and researchers to identify, compare, and discuss games. In 2022, the foundation began supporting IFWiki, a community-maintained reference resource covering the history and culture of interactive fiction. IFTF also supports and hosts Twine, the open-source tool originally created by Chris Klimas in 2009 and widely used to create browser-based interactive stories. The foundation's positioning is therefore infrastructural rather than consumer-brand oriented. Its value lies in preserving community assets, keeping essential services available, supporting open and accessible creative tools, and connecting historical interactive fiction with contemporary narrative-game practice. Its activities span independent creators, players, archivists, researchers, educators, critics, and developers. The organization remains active, although publicly available reference material does not establish a conventional corporate headquarters, commercial revenue model, or listed-company structure.
History
The Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation was founded on June 30, 2016, as a nonprofit charitable organization focused on the long-term health of interactive fiction. Its creation reflected the need for durable stewardship of community resources that had historically been maintained by individuals or informal groups. Interactive fiction has a substantial technical history, including parser games, virtual machines, authoring languages, standards, archives, and online communities. IFTF's role is to preserve and operate this infrastructure rather than to replace it with a single commercial platform. The foundation's first major operational responsibility was the Interactive Fiction Competition. IFComp had been running since 1995 as an annual showcase and competition for new works by independent creators. Under IFTF's operation from 2016 onward, it remained a recurring point of entry into the field for authors and players. The competition also contributes to the documentation and visibility of contemporary interactive fiction by gathering new releases within a recognizable annual program. In 2017, IFTF assumed operation of the Interactive Fiction Archive, whose history dates to 1992. The archive contains games, websites, documents, and technical materials important to the community. Among the materials associated with it are the Inform 6 website, the Treaty of Babel standards, and resources connected with the Z-machine and Glulx. By maintaining this repository, IFTF supports both practical access and historical preservation. The archive provides continuity for older formats and development tools that might otherwise become difficult to locate as websites disappear and software ecosystems change. The organization broadened its community role in 2019. It supported IntFiction, an online forum that had been a discussion center for the community since 2006. It also established NarraScope, an annual conference devoted to narrative games. Together, these activities connect preservation and infrastructure with active discussion, public presentation, and exchange among creators, scholars, critics, and players. In 2021, IFTF took on operation of the Interactive Fiction Database. IFDB had been founded by Michael J. Roberts in 2007 and functions as a catalog of interactive-fiction works with metadata and reviews. Its operation gives the community a more durable home for discovery and documentation. In 2022, IFTF began supporting IFWiki, a community-maintained resource about interactive-fiction history and culture. The foundation also supports and hosts Twine, the authoring tool created by Chris Klimas in 2009. Twine's inclusion reflects IFTF's broad interpretation of interactive fiction, encompassing contemporary browser-based and hypertext-oriented storytelling as well as older parser traditions. Across these initiatives, IFTF has developed into a coordinating and preservation institution for a distributed creative community. Its activities cover archival storage, software hosting, databases, forums, competitions, conferences, and reference documentation. The organization does not present itself as a conventional publisher with a proprietary catalog. Instead, it provides continuity and shared infrastructure for works and communities created by many independent participants. Public reference material identifies its board and advisory participants but does not provide a detailed account of staffing, headquarters, finances, or a commercial ownership structure.
- 2022
IFTF begins supporting IFWiki
[1]The foundation begins supporting the community-maintained Interactive Fiction Wiki.
- 2021
IFTF begins operating IFDB
[1]The foundation takes operational responsibility for the Interactive Fiction Database.
- 2019
Community forum support and NarraScope
[1]IFTF supports IntFiction and establishes NarraScope, an annual conference focused on narrative games.
- 2017
IFTF takes over the Interactive Fiction Archive
[1]The foundation begins operating the long-running Interactive Fiction Archive.
- 2016
Foundation established
[1]The Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation is founded on June 30 as a nonprofit charitable organization.
- 2007
Interactive Fiction Database is founded
[1]Michael J. Roberts establishes IFDB as a database for interactive-fiction metadata and reviews.
- 2006
IntFiction community forum begins
[1]The Interactive Fiction Community Forum begins serving as a center for online discussion in the field.
- 2004
Interactive Fiction Wiki is established
[1]IFWiki is originally set up as a community-maintained resource on interactive-fiction history and culture.
- 1995
Interactive Fiction Competition begins
[1]The annual Interactive Fiction Competition is established as a venue for new works by independent creators.
- 1992
Interactive Fiction Archive begins
[1]The Interactive Fiction Archive begins operating as a repository for interactive-fiction software, documents, websites, and technical materials.
Products and positioning
A nonprofit steward of the technical, archival, and community infrastructure that supports interactive fiction and narrative games.
Competition and community program · 1995
Interactive Fiction Competition
An annual competition and showcase for new interactive-fiction works by independent creators. The program predates IFTF, having run since 1995, and provides a recurring structure for releasing, discovering, and discussing new games. IFTF has operated the competition since 2016.
Digital archive · 1992
Interactive Fiction Archive
A long-running repository for interactive-fiction games, websites, documents, and technical resources. The archive preserves materials associated with Inform 6, the Treaty of Babel, the Z-machine, and Glulx, helping maintain access to both creative works and the technical history behind them. IFTF has operated it since 2017.
Database and discovery service · 2007
Interactive Fiction Database
A database containing metadata and reviews for interactive-fiction works. Founded by Michael J. Roberts in 2007, IFDB supports discovery, cataloging, comparison, and community discussion. IFTF has operated the service since 2021.
Online community · 2006
Interactive Fiction Community Forum
An online discussion forum known as IntFiction. The forum has served the interactive-fiction community since 2006, and IFTF has supported it since 2019 as part of the foundation's broader community-infrastructure role.
Conference · 2019
NarraScope
An annual conference focused on narrative games. Established by IFTF in 2019, it extends the foundation's activities beyond software and archives into presentations, discussion, and exchange concerning interactive narrative.
Community reference resource · 2004
Interactive Fiction Wiki
A community-maintained wiki covering the history and culture of interactive fiction. Originally set up by David Cornelson in 2004, it has been supported by IFTF since 2022.
Interactive-fiction authoring software · 2009
Twine
An authoring tool for creating interactive stories, including browser-based and hypertext-oriented works. Twine was initially created by Chris Klimas in 2009. IFTF supports and hosts the software, contributing to the availability of an important contemporary tool for interactive storytelling.
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