TSR

TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company and the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons. When Gary Gygax could not find a publisher for D&D, a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, Gygax and Don Kaye founded Tactical Studies Rules in October, 1973, to self-publish their products. However, needing immediate financing to bring their new game to market before several similar competing products were released, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. When Kaye unexpectedly died in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the now popular D&D as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his other son Kevin, making the two Blume brothers the largest shareholders in TSR Hobbies. TSR Hobbies ran into financial difficulties in the spring of 1983, prompting the company to split into four independent businesses, with game publishing and development continuing as TSR, Inc.