The story
Founded by Steve Jackson in 1980, in Austin.1
History
Founded in 1980, six years after the creation of Dungeons & Dragons, SJ Games created several role-playing and strategy games with science fiction themes. SJ Games' early titles were microgames initially sold in 4×7 inch Ziploc bags, and later in the similarly sized Pocket Box. Games such as Ogre, Car Wars, Illuminati, and G.E.V. (an Ogre spin-off) were popular during SJ Games' early years. Game designers such as Loren Wiseman and Jonathan Leistiko have worked for Steve Jackson Games.
In April–May 2012, Steve Jackson Games ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for a new "Designer's Edition" of Ogre. In April 2014, game designer Phil Reed became CEO of the company. In 2023, Reed stepped down, citing concerns about his health and personal life. Meredith Placko, previously CEO of paint company Turbo Dork, took his place. In April 2025, Placko announced she would resign her position and go back to Turbo Dork as its CEO.
Raid by the Secret Service
On March 1, 1990, the Secret Service raided the offices of Steve Jackson Games, seizing three computers, two laser printers, dozens of floppy disks, and the master copy of GURPS Cyberpunk; a genre toolkit for cyberpunk games, written by Loyd Blankenship, an employee at the time. The Secret Service believed that Blankenship had illegally accessed Bell South systems, and uploaded a document possibly affecting 9-1-1 systems onto Steve Jackson Games's public bulletin board system or another board known as Phoenix which he also administered; and, furthermore, that GURPS Cyberpunk would help others commit computer crimes. During their investigation, the Secret Service also read (and deleted) private emails on one of the computers. Though the materials were later returned in June, Steve Jackson Games filed suit in federal court, winning at trial.
The raid led to the formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which was founded in July 1990.
Publication history
Gaming magazines produced by Steve Jackson Games have included:
The Space Gamer (1980–1985): Steve Jackson took over the magazine from Metagaming Concepts with issue #27, and transferred the magazine to Steve Jackson Games in 1982; the final issue from Steve Jackson Games was #76 in 1985, and the rights were sold to Diverse Talents Inc.
Fire & Movement (1982–1985): A wargaming magazine purchased from Baron Publishing—sold to Diverse Talents in 1985
Autoduel Quarterly (1983–1992): Home for Car Wars material moved from The Space Gamer
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Fantasy Gamer (1983–1984): Short-lived magazine split from Space Gamer
Roleplayer (1986–1993): Replaced The Space Gamer as the company's periodical for their fan base until SJGames started the new generalist magazine Pyramid
Pyramid (1993–1998): Published for 30 issues as a print magazine
Pyramid, volume 2 (1998–2008): Published weekly as a subscription-based online magazine
Journal of the Travellers Aid Society (starting 2000): SJ Games resurrected Game Designers' Workshop's earlier periodical as an online magazine
d20 Weekly (2002–2003): An online magazine devoted to the d20 market
Pyramid, volume 3 (starting 2008): A PDF-only version of the magazine
From Wikipedia’s article on Steve Jackson Games, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4