Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast ( often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards ) is an American publisher of games , primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes and the current license holder of " Dungeons & Dragons " and its Forgotten Realms campaign setting . Originally a basement - run role - playing game publisher , they popularized the collectible card game genre with " " in the mid - 1990s . Today they publish board games , collectible card games and role - playing games . Currently they are a subsidiary of . History . Wizards of the Coast was founded by in 1990 just outside Seattle , Washington , and their headquarters is still in nearby Renton . Originally the company only published role - playing games such as the third edition of and their own . The release of The Primal Order brought legal trouble with suing for references to their game and system . The suit was settled in 1993 by Wizards paying an undisclosed sum to Palladium and agreeing not to mention their products again . However , it made its indelible mark when at Gen Con in August 1993 , the company debuted ' s Collectible card game " " under the shell company " Garfield Games " to shelter it from the legal battle with Palladium . The success of " Magic " generated revenue that carried the company out of the original basement headquarters and into its own offices . In 1994 , they expanded their role - playing game line by buying from and from In 1995 they released and then closed their roleplaying game product line with Peter Adkison explaining that they were doing a disservice to the games with lack of support and had lost money on all of their roleplaying game products . In 1997 , Wizards of the Coast was granted US patent 5662332 on Collectible card games , followed by the purchase of TSR , Inc . , the cash - strapped makers of " Dungeons & Dragons " . Many of the creative and professional staff of TSR relocated from Wisconsin to the Renton area , and Wizards re - hired many game designers who had been laid off during the troubled last years of TSR . TSR was used as a brand name for a while , then retired . Wizards of the Coast allowed the TSR trademarks to expire . The game and toy giant bought Wizards of the Coast in September 1999 . Between 1997 and 1999 , they spun off several well - loved but poorly - selling campaign settings ( most notably , and ) to fan groups , focusing their business primarily on the profitable " " and " Forgotten Realms " lines . In 1999 , Wizards of the Coast also published the highly successful for a number of years before took back control . Wizards of the Coast also ran a chain of gaming retail stores , run under the names " The Game Keeper " and " Wizards of the Coast , " including their flagship gaming center on the Ave in Seattle for several years . The gaming center was closed by March of 2001 and eventually Wizards announced in December 2003 that it would close all stores in order to concentrate on game design . The stores were closed in the spring of 2004 . In early 2006 Wizards of the Coast filed a lawsuit against Daron Rutter , operator of the MTGSalvation website . The lawsuit accused Rutter of engaging in copyright infringement , contributory copyright infringement , trade secret violation , unjust enrichment , and breach of contract . The charges stemmed from Rutter publicly posting confidential prototypes for upcoming " " card sets to his website . Wizards of the Coast attempted to obtain summary judgment . The case was settled out of court , and the terms of the settlement have been sealed . Web community . Wizards has one of the most vocal online communities . Its members ' posts on " magicthegathering . com " sub forum has made Wizards change some of their online employees , contents of articles and even the content of the website . Wizards of the Coast " Dungeons & Dragons " game designers have also been known to visit the D20 Character Optimization Board to get information on how character classes have been used , and which ones are considered too powerful . Wizards Community members have the privileges to : Members run an annual " Urza Awards " competition to recognize the contributions of noteworthy users . Forum moderators also organize " UnCon " , Unconventional Convention . Special guests ( WotC employees , Artists and Writers ) also appear in WotC ' s " Live Chat " . Games and products . Role - playing games and supplements . Wizards of the Coast drafted the used by and the . Fantasy novel series . Wizards of the Coast also publishes many fantasy novel series based on its other game products . Some of these are now out - of - print . Wizards also has a juvenile publishing imprint , , which has produced books for StarSisterz , and .