D&D History Page #3

This is an article that was on the GameSpot web site

The Downfall of TSR and the AD&D computer license

While TSR was producing more 2nd Edition AD&D supplements and branching out into more settings, AD&D on the computer was exploding. The first gold box set - starting with the Pool of Radiance game, extending to Curse of the Azure Bonds, then to Secret of the Silver Blades and ending with Pools of Darkness - became a fan favorite. And the incredibly popular Dragonlance series was brought to the computer in a trilogy of Dragonlance CRPGs. More AD&D games arrived, taking place in other AD&D settings. The original gold box set took place in the Forgotten Realms setting, the mainstream universe of AD&D, so to speak. Aside from Dragonlance, SSI branched out into the gothic horror of the Ravenloft setting, the scorched sands of the Dark Sun setting, and even dabbled in two obscure settings: the Arabian Nights-inspired world of Al-Qadim and the fantasy outer-space Spelljammer setting.

Meanwhile, at TSR, the good fortune of half a decade could not persist. When Magic the Gathering came along in the mid-'90s, it completely changed the scene. Collectible card games became hugely successful and Magic the Gathering suddenly became the darling of the gaming community. TSR tried to respond by releasing its own card game and a collectible dice game, but with disastrous results. The company poured too much money into these efforts and eventually went bankrupt trying to outdo Wizards of the Coast. Ironically, when TSR was on its last leg, it was Wizards of the Coast that arrived to bail out the company. It was also around this time that the illustrious partnership between SSI and TSR dissolved. In 1997, Wizards of the Coast bought TSR and relocated the operation to Washington. Publication of AD&D materials, which were suspended for half a year due to distribution and financial problems, resumed, and Wizards started the process of resuscitating AD&D and the AD&D computer license.

On the computer, from 1988 to the early '90s, AD&D computer games prospered, but by 1994 and 1995, the quality of AD&D games took a nosedive and the franchise was bedeviled by poor products. We don't know whether TSR's financial woes contributed to the downfall, but eventually, SSI lost the AD&D license and in 1995, it looked like the era of AD&D PC gaming had come to an end.