Fandom Inc

Fandom, Inc.

File:Fandom logo.svg Logo since 2021
Company type	For-profit corporation
Industry	Wiki hosting, digital media
Founded	October 18, 2004 (2004-10-18) in San Francisco, California, United States
Founder	Jimmy Wales, Angela Beesley
Headquarters	San Francisco , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Perkins Miller (CEO), Jimmy Wales (President)
Products	Wiki hosting service, data analytics, marketing research, API platform, digital magazine
Owner	TPG Inc., Jon Miller (via Integrated Media Co.)
Number of employees	300+ (2016)
Website	fandom.com

Fandom (known as FANDOM between 2017 and 2021, and previously called Wikicities and Wikia) is a wiki hosting service that primarily covers entertainment subjects including video games, television series, films, and celebrities. Established in October 2004 by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales alongside Angela Beesley, it functions as a for-profit corporation registered in Delaware. In 2018, ownership transferred to TPG Inc. and Jon Miller through Integrated Media Co.

Built on the open-source MediaWiki platform, Fandom distinguishes itself from the nonprofit Wikipedia by monetizing through advertisements and commercial content sales, while most user-contributed writings remain under copyleft licenses. Its commercial operations encompass wiki hosting, data analytics, private marketing research groups, an API platform, and a digital magazine focused on pop culture news.

With over 350 million users worldwide as of October 2023, Fandom ranks within the top 50 most visited websites globally. Traffic analysis shows the United States contributing roughly 25.79% of visits, followed by Russia at 7.76%. The company’s portfolio includes key entertainment news and information brands such as TV Guide, GameFAQs, GameSpot, and Metacritic, thereby broadening its influence in the digital media sector.

Based in San Francisco and employing more than 300 staff members (as of 2016), Fandom continues to pursue growth under the leadership of CEO Perkins Miller and President Jimmy Wales, strengthening its position within the competitive digital entertainment and wiki hosting markets.

2004–2009: Founding and expansion

On October 18, 2004, Wikicities was founded by Jimmy Wales—co-founder of Wikipedia—and Angela Beesley Starling, both integral to Wikimedia Foundation leadership. Wales originally aimed to create a platform supporting geographically based communities.

The organization rebranded as Wikia on March 27, 2006. Prior to this change, it secured $4 million in venture capital investments from Bessemer Venture Partners and First Round Capital. Later that year, Amazon contributed an additional $10 million during Series B funding. By September 2006, Wikia hosted approximately 1,500 wikis across 48 languages.

Wikia grew by acquiring independent fan-run wikis such as LyricWiki, Nukapedia, Uncyclopedia, and WoWWiki. Early portrayals described Wikia as a complement to Wikipedia—providing more casual, entertainment-centric content enriched with multimedia elements like maps and YouTube videos. This varied content approach helped establish its distinctive position within the wiki ecosystem.

2010–2015: Leadership transition

By 2010, Wikia’s wikis were available in 188 different languages. In October 2011, Craig Palmer—previously CEO of Gracenote—replaced Penchina as chief executive officer. Co-founder Angela Beesley Starling departed in February 2012 to launch ChalkDrop.com. That November, Wikia raised $10.8 million in Series C funding from Institutional Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Amazon.com. A subsequent Series D round in August 2014 brought in $15 million from investors including Digital Garage, Amazon, Bessemer, and Institutional Venture Partners, totaling $39.8 million in funding.

On March 4, 2015, Walker Jacobs—former executive vice president at Turner Broadcasting System—was appointed chief operating officer of Wikia. In December of that year, Wikia introduced the Fan Contributor Program aimed at boosting user participation and content development.

2016–2018: Emergence of the Fandom Brand

On January 25, 2016, Wikia introduced an entertainment news platform under the name Fandom. Later that year, on October 4, Wikia rebranded itself as "Fandom powered by Wikia," aligning its corporate identity with the Fandom website. Although the parent company continued operating under the name Wikia, Inc. until 2019, its main site URL transitioned from wikia.com/fandom to fandom.com. In December of the same year, Dorth Raphaely, who previously served as GM at Bleacher Report, was appointed as chief content officer.

On May 18, 2017, Fandom unveiled a refreshed visual identity featuring a fully capitalized logo and adopting a flat design style.

2018–Present: Expansion and Strategic Shifts

In February 2018, Jon Miller, formerly CEO of AOL and supported by private equity firm TPG Capital, acquired Fandom. Miller took on the role of co-chairman alongside founder Jimmy Wales, while Andrew Doyle assumed the interim CEO position. By July, Fandom expanded through acquiring Screen Junkies from Defy Media and later in December secured Curse Media assets, including Gamepedia and platforms such as D&D Beyond and StrawPoll.me.

February 2019 marked Perkins Miller’s appointment as CEO; he had previously led StubHub. Concurrently, Wikia completed its domain migration to fandom.com, while certain wikis focused on more serious topics were relocated to wikia.org. Mid-year, Fandom initiated upgrades to its infrastructure by adopting a modern MediaWiki version and launched the Unified Community Platform (UCP) for new wikis in March 2020.

In 2020, Fandom divested Curse Network properties to Magic Find. Starting November that year, Gamepedia wikis were systematically migrated to fandom.com to enhance SEO performance.

February 2021 brought the acquisition of Fanatical, an e-commerce service owned by Focus Multimedia. The following month, Fandom revised its terms of service to prohibit deadnaming transgender users across all sites—a response to controversies arising on the Star Wars wiki Wookieepedia. By June 2021, company-wide LGBTQ+ guidelines were introduced.

June 2021 saw the launch of FandomDesktop, a redesigned desktop interface replacing older skins. August introduced a refreshed logo accompanied by the slogan "For the love of fans." By the end of that year, all remaining wikis hosted on wikia.org had been transferred to fandom.com.

In April 2022, Hasbro acquired D&D Beyond from Fandom. StrawPoll.me was discontinued in August. On October 3, Fandom expanded its portfolio by acquiring prominent entertainment and gaming platforms—including GameSpot, Metacritic, TV Guide, GameFAQs, Giant Bomb, Cord Cutters News, and Comic Vine—from Red Ventures.

Early 2023 experienced workforce reductions affecting teams at GameSpot, Metacritic, and Giant Bomb; additional cuts occurred in January 2024 targeting GameSpot’s editorial division. In October 2024, approximately 11% of Fandom’s employees were laid off due to missed revenue goals; impacted groups included GameSpot UK and Honest Trailers alongside sales and management personnel.

February 2025 marked the launch of “FanDNA Helix,” an AI-powered advertising solution that analyzes site content and users’ social media profiles for targeted marketing campaigns. In May 2025, Giant Bomb was sold back to its original staff members. July 2025 introduced AI-driven generative translation tools aimed at broadening access to non-English language wikis.

Wikis

The core purpose of articles within Fandom communities is to deliver in-depth and thorough coverage on specialized topics that often exceed the detail found in Wikipedia entries. This encompasses comprehensive information about video games—including gameplay mechanics and storylines—as well as related subject matter. Unlike Wikipedia’s strict neutral point of view policy, many Fandom wikis may present content from particular viewpoints; however, neutrality remains encouraged across numerous communities.

Fandom maintains more permissive image use policies than Wikimedia projects permit, allowing for richer visual content. All textual contributions made by users are released under free licenses—most commonly the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license—though some communities utilize licenses with noncommercial restrictions or adopt the GNU Free Documentation License. While Fandom’s guidelines prohibit hate speech, defamation, explicit pornography, and copyright violations, they otherwise permit diverse content provided it does not duplicate existing wiki material.

Ownership of wikis on Fandom lies with their respective communities rather than founders; governance depends on collaborative consensus among users. Nevertheless, corporate leadership at Fandom retains ultimate authority to enact decisions impacting these communities even in cases where consensus is not achieved.

Technology

As of May 2023, Fandom runs on a significantly customized iteration of MediaWiki software, derived from version 1.39. The platform incorporates bespoke extensions designed to improve social interaction features such as blogs, chat rooms, badges, forums, and multimedia integration, while eliminating certain advanced user settings and skin options. For example, the Monobook skin was removed in May 2018 to align with GDPR compliance requirements.

In August 2016, Fandom adopted a service-oriented architecture approach, simplifying its technology infrastructure by phasing out numerous custom extensions and introducing new functionalities specifically crafted to meet community demands. This transition underscores the company’s strategic emphasis on scalable and efficient platform management to support its worldwide operations and business expansion.

Entertainment news

Wikia introduced Fandom in 2016 as an entertainment media platform that combines contributions from volunteer "Fandom Contributors" with an editorial team. The site centers around pop culture subjects such as video games, films, and television shows, delivering fan perspectives, interviews, reviews, instructional guides, and sponsored content aimed at promoting various properties.

That same year, Wikia rebranded its entire network under the Fandom banner. By early 2019, all wikis shifted from the wikia.com domain to fandom.com to encourage greater adoption of Fandom’s dedicated wiki applications available on iOS and Android devices.

Wiki partnerships

Fandom has formed official collaborations to develop verified wikis serving as authoritative encyclopedias for different franchises. In 2012, it teamed up with Sony Online Entertainment to create the inaugural "Wikia Official Community" for PlanetSide 2, offering exclusive content and dedicated support. In 2014, Fandom partnered with Roddenberry Enterprises on the Trek Initiative, hosting Star Trek-related material including interviews and promotional campaigns commemorating the franchise’s 50th anniversary.

Other notable partnerships include collaborations with 2K Games during the release of Civilization: Beyond Earth and with Warner Bros. Interactive for Shadow of Mordor. Additionally, Fandom works with Lionsgate Media to promote Starz network programming and film franchises through wiki content and advertising efforts.

Esports

In 2021, the United States Navy engaged Fandom to oversee and promote esports competitions and live streams on Twitch, thereby broadening Fandom’s footprint within digital entertainment.

Fandom Games (YouTube channel)

Following the acquisition of Curse Media, Fandom rebranded the former Curse Entertainment YouTube channel as Fandom Games. This channel produces Honest Game Trailers, which were previously featured on the Smosh Games channel until Fandom acquired Screen Junkies, further expanding its gaming content offerings.

OpenServing

Introduced in December 2006, OpenServing was a brief web publishing venture by Fandom that provided free wiki hosting combined with a revenue-sharing scheme for site creators. Although thousands applied to participate, the initiative quietly ended by January 2008 without launching any active sites. OpenServing operated on a customized version of MediaWiki software but failed to gain sufficient market traction.

Armchair GM

ArmchairGM was a sports-focused forum and wiki platform developed by Aaron Wright, Dan Lewis, Robert Lefkowitz, and programmer David Pean. It debuted in early 2006 with an initial focus on American sports before broadening its scope to cover British sports as well. Built on MediaWiki technology, the site incorporated a Digg-style voting mechanism for articles, comment sections resembling blogs with user interaction, and supported various content formats including news updates, opinion pieces, and informal "locker room" chats.

In late 2006, Fandom purchased ArmchairGM for $2 million. Following this acquisition, the site's underlying system was adapted for other Fandom projects. By January 2010, Fandom ceased maintaining the custom software that powered ArmchairGM. Between September 2010 and February 2011, the encyclopedia content from ArmchairGM was merged into Fandom’s main platform while blog posts were removed, marking the closure of the original site.

Beginning in February 2008, elements of ArmchairGM’s software were gradually released as open source, starting with the SocialProfile extension for MediaWiki. The entire original codebase—referred to as wikia-ny—was made publicly available by August 2011. Since then, MediaWiki contributors have continued enhancing these "social tools" under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. The source code is maintained on Wikimedia Foundation servers and is also mirrored on GitHub.

Search engines

Wikia, Inc. initially proposed a copyleft search engine called "Wikiasari" in 2004; its name combined Hawaiian and Japanese words meaning "quick" and "to rummage." This initiative became dormant in 2005. The public alpha version of Wikia Search was launched on January 7, 2008, operating out of the USSHC underground data center but was met with unfavorable reviews from tech media outlets. The project was discontinued in March 2009. Later that year, a new search engine was developed to index content across all sites hosted by Fandom.

Questions and answers site

In January 2009, the company introduced a question and answer website named "Wikianswers," which was distinct from an existing site with a similar name. In March 2010, Fandom rebranded this service as "Answers from Wikia," allowing users to establish topic-specific knowledge market wikis hosted under Fandom’s Wikianswers subdomain.

Relationship with Wikipedia

During the 2000s, Fandom—then operating under the name Wikia—was criticized for allegedly capitalizing on its perceived connection to Wikipedia. Media outlets frequently labeled Fandom as "the commercial counterpart to the non-profit Wikipedia," a description that both the Wikimedia Foundation and Fandom representatives have contested as misleading.

In 2006, the Wikimedia Foundation shared hosting and bandwidth expenses with Wikia and received some donated office space from the company during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006. By fiscal year-end 2007, Wikia had an outstanding balance of $6,000 owed to the foundation. Additionally, in June 2007 two members of Wikimedia’s board also held roles at Wikia. In January 2009, Wikia leased conference rooms to the Wikimedia Foundation for use by the Wikipedia Usability Initiative. According to a 2009 email from Wikimedia’s deputy director Erik Möller, rental fees were established based on prevailing market rates to ensure fairness for both organizations.

Advertising controversies

Members of Fandom communities have expressed unease regarding intrusive and resource-heavy advertisements, particularly those embedded within the main body of text. Due to the disruptive nature of these ads, many users resort to ad-blockers, as such advertisements notably degrade website functionality, especially on mobile platforms where autoplaying videos trigger page reloads.

The platform's aggressive approach to monetizing user-generated content has drawn criticism from media sources like The Guardian, which emphasize that contributors do not receive compensation or rights for their creations. Scholarly publications such as the Journal of Student Research characterize Fandom’s business model as exploitative, pointing to its application of Uses and gratifications alongside monopolistic information practices that restrict competitive dynamics.

In August 2024, "Adalytics" revealed that prominent brand advertisements were displayed alongside offensive and racist content on several smaller Fandom wikis. Despite employing AI-driven ad placement systems supported by DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, the platform was criticized for failing to prevent ads from appearing adjacent to harmful material, raising significant concerns regarding brand safety and the reliability of Fandom’s advertising oversight.

Editorial interference

Fandom has modified user-generated pages by introducing obstructive features such as advertisement popups, promoting unrelated or questionable articles, and embedding unrelated quizzes intended to increase user engagement—often without prior consultation with content creators. Additionally, the company has removed material arbitrarily without notifying editors in advance.

In 2017, autoplay videos were launched on wikis related to gaming franchises like Runescape and Fallout without seeking input from editors. These additions were met with criticism for diminishing the overall quality of the sites.

Beginning in 2021, Fandom initiated censorship measures targeting adult content by deleting entire wikis dedicated to such topics. This action provoked backlash among users and editors due to the lack of prior communication.

In 2022, several wikis focusing on sexuality and gender were consolidated by Fandom, accompanied by the deletion of pages without consulting the community. The revisions attracted criticism for containing offensive material toward intersex individuals and for steering editorial policies toward a more “corporate friendly” stance. Following these events, critics reported being blocked both on social media platforms and within Fandom itself.

In 2023, the rollout of AI-generated “Quick Answers” across various wikis resulted in public disapproval due to grammatical mistakes and factual errors, ultimately leading to the feature’s removal.

By May 2025, Fandom implemented “brand safety” protocols on GiantBomb, which sparked discontent among its staff. After internal disputes, GiantBomb separated from Fandom to operate independently.

Privacy concerns

Fandom has been subject to legal actions in California over alleged breaches of the Video Privacy Protection Act, accused of sharing user data—including IP addresses and viewing behaviors—without obtaining consent. This data was reportedly disclosed to third parties such as Meta.

McDonald's Grimace Shake campaign

In June 2023, McDonald's compensated Fandom for replacing the main page of the McDonald's Wiki dedicated to Grimace with an advertisement promoting the Grimace Shake and celebrating the character’s 52nd anniversary. Nathan Steinmetz, the principal contributor to the article, condemned this action as establishing a "poor precedent" by permitting intellectual property owners to supplant community-generated content with promotional materials.

Wiki migrations

Numerous wikis have relocated away from Fandom, citing issues such as excessive advertising, an interface that lacks user-friendliness, restricted customization options, and irrelevant corporate cross-promotion. One of the earliest instances was the Transformers Wiki’s departure in 2008 due to conflicts over advertising. Other communities, including the Zelda and Minecraft wikis, have expressed discontent with Fandom’s corporate consolidation, alleged censorship practices, diminished functionality, and incidents like the Grimace controversy. The frequency of migrations increased notably following Fandom’s acquisition of Gamepedia in 2018. Experts observe that wikis leaving Fandom face difficulties competing against its advanced search engine optimization (SEO) and broader audience reach. In 2023, Fandom’s CEO Perkins Miller reiterated his dedication to resolving migration-related concerns while enhancing platform reliability and tools.

Noteworthy exits include the RuneScape wiki in 2018; the Zelda and Terraria wikis in 2022; the Minecraft, Fallout, and Hollow Knight wikis in 2023; followed by the South Park, Dead by Daylight, and League of Legends wikis in 2024; and finally the Warframe, Vampire Survivors, Undertale/Deltarune, Nichijou, and Balatro wikis in 2025. Some of these migrations were supported by original content creators, which helped foster community confidence during transitions.

Forking

Communities attempting to migrate face obstacles related to paid hosting since Fandom generally retains control over domain names. When a community departs, Fandom frequently continues operating a "forked" version of the original wiki under the same domain to capitalize on advertising revenue while retaining some editing and traffic. This approach can negatively impact the search rankings of the new wiki and cause outdated or inaccurate content to remain more prominent. Fandom allows only a brief notice linking to discussions about forking before removing it and revoking administrative privileges on the forked site.

Fandom, Inc.

Fandom, Inc., headquartered at 130 Sutter Street in San Francisco's Hallidie Building, was originally incorporated in Florida in December 2004 before re-incorporating as Wikia, Inc. in Delaware in January 2006. The company’s main engineering team operates out of Poznań, Poland, with additional technical personnel based in the United States.

Fandom’s revenue model is primarily advertising-driven. Initially dependent on Google AdSense, it later formed a partnership with Federated Media before developing proprietary ad management systems. The platform continues to utilize AdSense, Amazon Ads, and other third-party advertising services alongside sponsorship deals centered around sweepstakes linked to its wikis.

The company maintains several offices worldwide: international operations are coordinated from Germany; Asian sales and administration are managed from Tokyo; additional sales offices exist in Chicago, Latin America, Los Angeles (focusing on marketing and content), New York City, and London. This organizational setup supports its global business expansion and operational needs.

See also

• Comparison of wiki hosting platforms