TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company most famous for publishing the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The company was purchased in 1997 by Wizards of the Coast, which no longer uses the TSR name for its products.
History
Tactical Studies Rules
Tactical Studies Rules was formed in 1973 as a partnership between Gary Gygax and Don Kaye as a means to publish formally and sell the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, one of the first modern role-playing games. They first published Cavaliers and Roundheads, a miniature game, to start generating income for TSR. The partnership was subsequently joined by Brian Blume and (temporarily) by Dave Arneson. Blume was admitted to the partnership to fund publishing of D&D instead of waiting for Cavalier and Roundheads to generate enough revenue.[1] When Don Kaye died of a stroke in 1975, the Tactic Study Rules partnership was dissolved.
TSR Hobbies, Inc.
Brian Blume and Gary Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company, TSR Hobbies, Inc., of which Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, had the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc. Ownership of Melvin Blume's shares were later transfer to Kevin Blume. With the board of directors consisting of Kevin and Brian Blume plus Gygax, Gygax was primarily a figurehead president & CEO of the corporation with Brian Blume as President of creative affairs and Kevin as President, operations effect in 1981. In 1983, the company was split into four companies, TSR, Inc. (primary successor), TSR International, TSR Ventures and TSR Entertainment, Inc.
Gygax left for Hollywood to found TSR Entertainment, Inc. (later Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment Corp.), which attempted to license D&D products to movie and television executives. His work would eventually lead to only a single license for what later became the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.
The Blumes were forced to leave after being accused of misusing corporate funds and accumulating large debts in the pursuit of acquisitions, such as latchhook rug kits, that were thought to be too broadly targeted.
Within a year of the ascension of the Blumes, the company was forced to post a net loss of 1.5 million US dollars, resulting in layoffs for approximately 75% of the staff. Some of these staff members went on to form other prominent game companies such as Pacesetter Games, Mayfair Games and to work with Coleco's video game division.
- ↑ Sacco, Ciro Alessandro (2 2007). An Interview with Gary Gygax, Part I (PDF) (in English). OD&Dities issue 9. Richard Tongue. p. 7. Retrieved on 9/11/2007.