<P> Adkison set up a new corporation, Garfield Games, to develop Richard Garfield's collectible card game concept, originally called Manaclash, into Magic: The Gathering . This kept the game sheltered from the legal battle with Palladium, and Garfield Games then licensed the production and sale rights to Wizards until the court case was settled, at which point the shell company was shut down . Wizards debuted Magic in July 1993 at the Origins Game Fair in Dallas . The game proved extremely popular at Gen Con in August 1993, selling out of its supply of 2.5 million cards, which had been scheduled to last until the end of the year . The success of Magic generated revenue that carried the company out from the handful of employees in 1993 working out of Peter's original basement headquarters into 250 employees in its own offices in 1995 . In 1994, Magic won both the Mensa Top Five mind games award and the Origins Awards for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game of 1993 and Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game of 1993 . </P> <P> In 1994, Wizards began an association with The Beanstalk Group, a brand licensing agency and consultancy, to license the Magic brand . After the success of Magic, Wizards published RoboRally in 1994, and it soon won the 1994 Origins Awards for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game and Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game . Wizards also expanded its role - playing game line by buying SLA Industries from Nightfall Games and Ars Magica from White Wolf, Inc. in 1994 . In 1995, Wizards published another card game by Richard Garfield, The Great Dalmuti, which won the 1995 Best New Mind Game award from Mensa . In August 1995, Wizards released Everway and then four months later closed its roleplaying game product line . Peter Adkison explained that the company was doing a disservice to the games with lack of support and had lost money on all of Wizards' roleplaying game products . Also in 1995, Wizards' annual sales passed US $65 million . </P> <P> Wizards announced the purchase of TSR, the cash - strapped makers of Dungeons & Dragons on April 10, 1997 . Wizards acquired TSR and Five Rings Publishing Group for $25 million . Many of the creative and professional staff of TSR relocated from Wisconsin to the Renton area . Wizards used TSR as a brand name for a while, then retired it, allowing the TSR trademarks to expire . Between 1997 and 1999, the company spun off several well - loved but poorly selling campaign settings (including Planescape, Dark Sun and Spelljammer) to fan groups, focusing business primarily on the more profitable Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms lines . </P> <P> In Summer 1997, Wizards revisited the concept of a 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons, having first discussed it soon after the purchase of TSR . Looking back on the decision in 2004, Adkison stated: "Obviously, (Wizards) had a strong economic incentive for publishing a new edition; sales for any product line tend to spike when a new edition comes out, assuming the new edition is an improvement over the first . And given the change in ownership we thought this would be an excellent opportunity for WotC to' put its stamp on D&D' ." He later "Set (the) overall design direction" for the new edition of D&D . Wizards released the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons in 2000, as well as the d20 System . With these releases came the Open Game License, which allowed other companies to make use of those systems . The new edition of the D&D game won the 2000 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game . In 2002, Wizards sponsored a design contest which allowed designers to submit their campaign worlds to Wizards, to produce an entirely original campaign world; Wizards selected "Eberron", submitted by Keith Baker, and its first hardcover book was released in June 2004 . In 2003 Wizards released version 3.5 of Dungeons & Dragons and the d20 system . Wizards helped to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the D&D game at Gen Con Indy 2004 . </P>

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