Ars Magica (thing)

• 1988: Published by Lion Rampant Games, Ars Magica recieves the Gamer's Choice Award for Best New Role-Playing Game from the RPGA.
• 1989: Johnathan Tweet leaves Lion Rampant to pursue other interests.
• 1990: Atlas Games is formed by former Lion Rampant employee, John Nephew. Atlas Games publishes various Ars Magica sourcebooks under license.
• That same year, Lion Rampant merges with White Wolf Magazine which eventually renamed itself to White Wolf Game Studio.
• 1992: White Wolf Game Studio releases the 3rd edition of Ars Magica. The 3rd edition had a much darker vision of the setting that turned some of the long-time players off while brought numerous new players to the game.
• 1994: White Wolf and Wizards of the Coast announce that Wizards of the Coast (WotC). Johnathan Tweet joints WotC as the head of their RPG division.
• 1995: WotC announces it's concentrating on it's "core business" (Magic: the Gathering. Ars Magica's fate is left in limbo.
• 1996: Atlas Games and WotC announce that Atlas Games has bought all rights to Ars Magica. The 4th edition is printed shortly thereafter.

Yes, Ars Magica really does seem like the slut of the game industry with everyone getting a crack at it. (Many thanks to the Ars Magica Faq for its history of Ars Magica.)