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Not only was the franchise losing money, but rumors of suicide and Satan worship hung like a black cloud over the game, pervading all parts of its public image. No longer was all press good press for a company that depended more and more on sales from school-aged children and teens. While TSR continued to pursue a softening of the brand, which included the reissuing and rebranding of products that were considered particularly occult—like it had done with Deities & Demigods becoming Legends & Lore the year before—it couldn’t seem to do enough to purify its image.
Things came to a head in October 1985: Gygax was ousted by the board of directors in a hostile takeover, which left his recent hire and former ally, Williams, in charge of TSR. Due to the company’s dire financial situation, it only cost Williams around a half million dollars to acquire controlling interest. Gygax was devastated and made a desperate legal challenge to the stock transfer, but he lost the case, and with it, Dungeons & Dragons.
