Editing FASA (section)

{{short description|American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games}}
{{About|the role-playing game company|other uses of FASA or Fasa|Fasa (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name     = FASA Corporation
| logo     = FASA Logo.png
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1980}}
| location         = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S.
| key_people       = [[Jordan Weisman]]<br />[[L. Ross Babcock III|L. Ross Babcock]]
| industry         = [[Wargaming]]<br />[[Role-playing game]]s
| products         = [[Crimson Skies]]<br />[[Renegade Legion]]<br />[[VOR: The Maelstrom]]<br />[[Earthdawn]]<br />[[Battletech]]<br />[[Shadowrun]]<br />[[Demonworld]]<br />[[Star Trek: The Role Playing Game]]<br />[[The Doctor Who Role Playing Game]]
| website          = {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010713055048/http://www.fasa.com/ |date=July 13, 2001 |title=www.fasa.com }}
| defunct          = {{end date|2001|4|30}} (active operations only)
| fate             = {{plainlist|
* Original business defunct
* Rights for ''BattleTech'' and ''Shadowrun'' split between [[Topps]] and [[Microsoft Gaming]]
* Returned publishing games through FASA Games in 2012}}
}}
{{Infobox company
| name       = FASA Games, Inc.
| logo       = 
| foundation = {{start date and age|2012|6|14}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://whois.domaintools.com/fasagames.com |title=FASAGames.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools |website=[[WHOIS]] |access-date=October 19, 2016}}</ref>
| location   = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| key_people = [[Jordan Weisman]]<br />[[L. Ross Babcock III|L. Ross Babcock]]
| industry   = [[Wargaming]]<br />[[Role-playing game]]s
| products   = [[Crimson Skies]]<br />[[Renegade Legion]]<br />[[VOR: The Maelstrom]]<br />[[Earthdawn]]<br />[[Battletech]]<br />[[Shadowrun]]<br />[[Demonworld]]
| website    = {{URL|fasagames.com}}
}}

'''FASA Corporation''' was an American publisher of [[role-playing game]]s, [[wargaming|wargame]]s and [[board game]]s between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA Inc. In 2012, a wholly owned subsidiary called FASA Games Inc. went into operation, using the name and logo under license from the parent company. FASA Games Inc. works alongside Ral Partha Europe, also a subsidiary of FASA Corporation, to bring out new editions of existing properties such as [[Earthdawn]] and [[Demonworld]], and to develop new properties within the FASA cosmology.

FASA first appeared as a ''[[Traveller (role-playing game)|Traveller]]'' licensee, producing supplements for that [[Game Designers' Workshop]] [[role-playing game]], especially the work of the Keith Brothers. The company went on to establish itself as a major gaming company with the publication of the ''[[Star Trek]]'' RPG, then several successful original games. Noteworthy lines included ''[[BattleTech]]'' and ''[[Shadowrun]]''. Their ''Star Trek'' role-playing supplements and tactical ship game enjoyed popularity outside the wargaming community since, at the time, official descriptions of the ''Star Trek'' universe were not common, and the gaming supplements offered details fans craved.

The highly successful ''[[BattleTech]]'' line led to a series of [[video game]]s, some of the first [[virtual reality]] gaming suites, called Virtual World (created by a subdivision of the company known at the time of development as ESP, an acronym for "Extremely Secret Project") and a Saturday-morning [[BattleTech: The Animated Series|animated TV series]].

Originally, the name FASA was an acronym for "[[Freedonia]]n Aeronautics and Space Administration", a joking allusion to the [[Marx Brothers]] film ''[[Duck Soup (1933 film)|Duck Soup]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whatwouldthesmartpartydo.com/2020/01/31/lou-prosperi-interview|title=What Would the Smart Party Do? Episode 117 – Lou Prosperi Interview|date=January 31, 2020|access-date=April 20, 2020}}</ref> This tongue-in-cheek attitude was carried over in humorous self-references in its games. For example, in ''[[Shadowrun]]'', a tactical nuclear device was detonated near FASA's offices at 1026 W. Van Buren St in [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]].