Short answers, pulled from the story.
Fantasy Grounds began its journey in 2004 as a project by SmiteWorks, a small software company based in Espoo, Finland. The Finnish team built a specialized tool to replicate the experience of sitting around a physical table with friends during a time when online gaming was dominated by massive multiplayer titles.
Doug Davison purchased SmiteWorks in 2009, bringing the Finnish company under American management. This acquisition set the stage for aggressive expansion into the tabletop gaming market and involved securing licenses for content from major role-playing game systems.
Fantasy Grounds achieved a landmark deal with Wizards of the Coast by April 2015. This partnership allowed the software to release official products for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons and coincided with the software becoming available on the Steam digital distribution platform.
SmiteWorks secured a license from Paizo Publishing in December 2016, and the Pathfinder content was released on Fantasy Grounds starting in May 2017. This release offered a robust alternative to Dungeons & Dragons for players seeking different mechanics and settings.
Fantasy Grounds Unity launched in May 2019 after the company ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the new version. This new version was built using the Unity engine and promised improved performance and modern graphics capabilities.
Adam Bradford joined SmiteWorks as their new Chief Development Officer in June 2024. He was the founder of D&D Beyond and left Demiplane following its acquisition by Roll20 to bring fresh perspectives to the platform.