Fantasy Grounds Is Going Free To Play

Fantasy Grounds, the Virtual Tabletop (VTT) which launched over 20 years ago in 2004, has always been a premium option for VTT users. That is--until today! Because, effective immediately, Fantasy Grounds is free to use.

Previously an FG license cost $50, and then you had to buy the games and other modules you wanted to use with it. As of today, all users can host and join unlimited games with no purchase or subscription.

The software itself is free, although of course the marketplace contains a massive quantity of official licensed content, and add-ons like art, maps, tokens, and digital dice. Officially licensed material includes Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, and more, with over 50 game systems and more than 3,000 products.

There's also a new 'Online Reader'--a web-based compendium which enables you to access your Fantasy Grounds library from your browser.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

So how are they monetizing going forward?
They have put a lot of work into it so far and I am concerned about free services and how they pay for themselves.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I am also very curious about sharing resources with players? Rules, off line character access or world building?

 

[UnplayedRanger]

Huh. I just bought it for $13 when it went on sale last month. Should have seen something like this coming.

 

[darjr]

Huh. I just bought it for $13 when it went on sale last month. Should have seen something like this coming.

I bought it many moons ago and used it not at all. So we have that going for us.

I’m not knocking it btw. Just the game I bought it for never happened.

 

[Reynard]

(Partially) Eliminating the financial barrier to running games via FG is a good start, but the real key to making FG ubiquitous would be to get it on tablets and/or in a browser. Installing software beyond an app seems to be quite the barrier for folks.

I think they would do well to figure out a deal with Wizards to be able to give away a Starter Set for free, too.

 

[UnplayedRanger]

I bought it many moons ago and used it not at all. So we have that going for us.

I’m not knocking it btw. Just the game I bought it for never happened.

Yeah, I bought it for Daggerheart. Which is hopefully coming out soon.

 

[grimslade]

Surprising. I am glad to see it. Wonder how they will monetize going forward? Just percentage off books?

 

[smiteworks]

Monetization will need to come from selling our dice packs, map packs, and our share of revenue from selling licensed content. Our cut is normally 30-40% range.

By removing the license costs and offering our digital reader, we believe it will bring more customers to our platform and be good for the other RPG publishers we partner with.

We have more than 20 years of data that we looked at, along with some case studies, but only time will tell if our projections were correct.

For the comment about someone who bought it on sale recently, be sure to check the free rewards you can claim.

 

[môrgondír]

What problems did you have? It's pretty rare to hear about installer problems.

Here's a partial list. Perhaps if defaults are used, there are no problems, I don't know. But I don't have the inclination to troubleshoot an installer when the user changes defaults to custom values -- it's easier to use a different product.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?85575-Fantasy-Grounds-Not-Launching-After-Latest-Update-%E2%80%93-Install-Stops-After-Updater

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?55145-Updater-Issues

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?82113-FGU-New-install-updater-fails

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?85443-Recently-built-new-Win11-%28first-time-using%29-PC-trouble-installing-FG-on-drive-D