Who created Fantasy Grounds and where was the company based?
SmiteWorks first released Fantasy Grounds in 2004 from an office in Espoo, Finland. Doug Davison bought the company outright in 2009.
Questions about Fantasy Grounds
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When did Fantasy Grounds get an official Dungeons & Dragons license?
SmiteWorks acquired a license from Wizards of the Coast for official Dungeons & Dragons content in April 2015. That same month, Fantasy Grounds also became available to buy on Steam.
What game systems does Fantasy Grounds support?
Fantasy Grounds officially supports more than 50 game systems and over 3,000 products, including Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, Traveller, Rolemaster and Castles & Crusades. The community has also built unofficial versions for other systems and custom rulesets.
How much did Fantasy Grounds licenses cost before the software became free?
In 2023, SmiteWorks priced the Core License at $20 and the Ultimate License at $50. The company also released several user interface updates in 2024 to address complaints about complexity.
Why did Fantasy Grounds become free for all users?
In November 2025, SmiteWorks announced it would drop the license requirement entirely so anyone could use Fantasy Grounds without paying. President Doug Davison said the change was meant to make the software more accessible to the global tabletop gaming community.
What is Fantasy Grounds Unity?
Fantasy Grounds Unity is a rebuilt version of the software developed in the Unity engine, funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign in May 2019.