Medieval Media starts building fantasy community platform

Medieval Media has begun development on a fantasy-focused platform that aims to bring fans, creators and newcomers into one destination. The Orlando company says the site is slated to launch in late 2026 and will center on discovery, community and creator collaboration.

Why it matters: - Fantasy audiences are spread across books, film, games, music, art and events, which makes discovery and community harder than in a single-platform ecosystem. - Medieval Media is betting that a dedicated home for fantasy can help fans find more of what they love and give creators a clearer path to engaged audiences. - The company’s launch plans also signal a broader push to turn fandom into a more structured media and creator network.

What happened: - Medieval Media said development has begun on its immersive platform for fantasy fans, creators and newcomers. - The company announced three founding leaders: Shawn Johnson as Founding Director of Product Experience, JC Murray as Founding Director of Platform Engineering and Rishi Shah as Founding Director of Media Operations. - Founder and CEO Michael Gemmati is leading the company’s vision and strategic direction. - Medieval Media is based in Orlando and operates under the domain MedievalMedia.com. - The platform is slated to launch in late 2026.

The details: - Medieval Media is building around The Gilded Hearth, a community layer that will sit at the center of the platform. - The company says the platform will combine editorial coverage, experiences, discussions and future creative tools within an immersive Stronghold. - Johnson will lead product strategy, experience architecture, UX/UI and design. - Johnson is a former executive leader at Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and Microsoft, and also founded SocioPunk. - Murray will establish architecture and development standards and build intelligent automation to improve the speed, quality and scale of human-led editorial production. - Murray previously helped scale Treasure’s engineering team from three to 30 and built high-traffic media platforms at XWP for News Corp Australia and Rogers Communications. - Shah will build the editorial network and systems for journalism, reviews, interviews, newsletters, podcasts, video and future media initiatives. - Shah has worked with Spring Health, Genoa Telepsychiatry and Parsley Health. - Gemmati has more than 18 years of experience across healthcare, AI and digital entertainment, including work with Philips, Health Recovery Solutions, Ascend.AI and BollyRhythm. - Gemmati also created and led World of Caenyr, a fantasy community focused on roleplaying, gaming and collaborative worldbuilding for more than a decade. - Fantasy fans can sign up for development updates and Firstmarked subscriber perks at MedievalMedia.com. - Creators, media companies and prospective partners can email contact@medievalmedia.com for early collaboration. - The company also directs followers to Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok.

Between the lines: - Medieval Media is trying to solve fragmentation with a genre-specific platform instead of another general fandom destination. - The hiring mix suggests the company wants to balance product design, technical scale and editorial output from the start. - Gemmati’s background in community building and storytelling appears central to the company’s pitch that belonging, not just discovery, will differentiate the platform.

What's next: - Medieval Media will continue platform development ahead of its late-2026 launch. - The company is recruiting fan, creator and partner interest through early sign-ups and direct outreach. - The company says future phases will expand creative tools and media formats as the platform grows.

The bottom line: - Medieval Media is building a fantasy-first destination that aims to unify discovery, community and creator collaboration in one place.