Steve Jackson (born 20 May 1951) is a British game designer, writer,

game reviewer Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publicati ...

and co-founder of UK game publisher

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...

History

Steve Jackson began his career in games in 1974 as a freelance journalist with ''

Games & Puzzles ''Games & Puzzles'' was a magazine about games and puzzles. The magazine was first published in May 1972 by Edu-Games (UK) Ltd. The first editor was Graeme Levin who recruited a variety of games and puzzles experts as writers and consultant edi ...

'' magazine. In early 1975, Jackson co-founded the company

with school friends John Peake and Ian Livingstone. They started publishing a monthly newsletter, ''

Owl and Weasel ''Owl and Weasel'' was a newsletter for Board Game, board gamers, role-playing gamers and Wargaming, wargamers, published in London, England, by Games Workshop. A total of 25 issues were published from February 1975 until April 1977; it was edite ...

'', which was largely written by Jackson, and sent copies of the first issue to subscribers of ''

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

'' fanzine; Brian Blume, co-partner of American publisher TSR, received one of these copies and in return sent back a copy of TSR's new game '' Dungeons & Dragons''. Jackson and Livingstone felt that this game was more imaginative than anything being produced in the UK at the time, and so worked out an arrangement with Blume for an exclusive deal to sell ''D&D'' in Europe. In late 1975, Jackson and Livingstone organized their first convention, the first Games Day. While selling game products directly out of their flat, their landlord kicked them out in the summer of 1976 after people kept showing up there looking for an actual store. By 1978 the first Games Workshop store had opened, in London. At a Games Day convention in 1980 Jackson and Livingstone met Geraldine Cooke, an editor at Penguin Books. They persuaded her to consider publication of a book about the role-playing hobby. This was originally intended to be an introductory guide, but the idea of an interactive gamebook seemed more appealing. After several months Cooke decided that this was viable and commissioned Jackson and Livingstone to develop it. In 1980, Jackson and Livingstone began to develop the concept of the ''

Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982. The series distinguished itself by mixing Choos ...

'' gamebook series, the first volume of which (''

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1982, the title is the first gamebook in the '' ...

'') was published in 1982 by Puffin Books (a subsidiary imprint of Penguin). Jackson and Livingstone would go on to individually write many volumes each, with further authors adding even more. Steve Jackson notably wrote ''

Sorcery! ''Sorcery!'', originally titled ''Steve Jackson's Sorcery!'', is a single-player four-part adventure gamebook series written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by John Blanche. Originally published by Penguin Books between 1983 and 1985, the titl ...

'', a four-part series utilizing the same system as ''Fighting Fantasy'' but where ''Fighting Fantasy'' mainly targeted children, ''Steve Jackson's Sorcery!'' was marketed to an older audience. Jackson and Livingstone attributed the gamebooks' popularity to their difficulty. After the success of the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series, Jackson designed the first interactive telephone role-playing game, ''

FIST A fist is the shape of a hand when the fingers are bent inward against the palm and held there tightly. To make or clench a fist is to fold the fingers tightly into the center of the palm and then to clamp the thumb over the middle phalanges; in ...

'', which was based loosely on the concepts of the gamebooks. Jackson and Livingstone sold off their stake in Games Workshop in 1991. In the mid-1990s Jackson spent 2.5 years as a games journalist with the '' London Daily Telegraph''. He then set up computer games developer Lionhead Studios with Peter Molyneux. Jackson left Lionhead in 2006 when Microsoft bought the company. He is an honorary professor at Brunel University in London, where he teaches the Digital Games Theory and Design MA. He is often mistaken for the American game designer with the same name: Steve Jackson. The American Jackson wrote three books in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series, which adds to the confusion, especially as these books were simply credited to "Steve Jackson" without any acknowledgement that it was a different person.other than one subtle difference: a book written by either of the two co-founders is credited as "by Steve Jackson" or "by Ian Livingstone". A book written by any other author is introduced as "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone presents" with the author's name simply listed in the preliminaries.

Works

Books

* ''

'' (1982) with Ian Livingstone, Puffin Books * ''

1–4'' (1983–85), Puffin Books * ''

The Citadel of Chaos ''The Citadel of Chaos'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the second gamebook in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series. It was ...

'' (1983), Puffin Books * ''

Starship Traveller ''Starship Traveller'' is a single-player Gamebook#Adventure gamebooks, adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson (UK), Steve Jackson and illustrated by Peter Andrew Jones. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1983, the title is the fourth ga ...

'' (1984), Puffin Books * ''

House of Hell ''House of Hell'' (''House of Hades'' in the United States) is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson, illustrated by Tim Sell and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002 ...

'' (1984), Puffin Books * ''Fighting Fantasy: The Introductory Role-playing Game'' (1984), Puffin Books * ''

Appointment with F.E.A.R. ''Appointment with F.E.A.R.'' is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Steve Jackson (UK), Steve Jackson, illustrated by Declan Considine and originally published in 1985 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2004. ...

'' (1985), Puffin Books * '' The Tasks of Tantalon'' (1985), Oxford University Press * '' Creature of Havoc'' (1986), Puffin Books * '' The Trolltooth Wars'' (1989), Puffin Books

Video games

* '' Lost Eden'' (1995), Virgin Interactive * '' Close Combat: Invasion – Normandy'' (2000),

Strategic Simulations, Inc. Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and video game publisher, publisher with over 100 titles to its credit from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994. The company was especially noted for its numerous wargames ...

* ''Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (2001), Laughing Jackal * '' The Movies (Premiere Edition)'' (2005), Activision * '' Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (2009), Big Blue Bubble * ''

1 – The Shamutanti Hills'' (2013), Inkle * ''Sorcery! 2 – Kharé – Cityport of Traps'' (2013), Inkle * ''Sorcery! 3 – The Seven Serpents'' (2015), Inkle * ''Sorcery! 4 – The Crown Of Kings'' (2016), Inkle

Other

* ''

BattleCards ''BattleCards'' was a fantasy-themed card game published in 1993 by Merlin Publishing. The game features a unique "Scratch and Slay" system created by Steve Jackson. The cards came in 10 card booster packs which included warrior cards, spell ca ...

'' – a card game first published in 1993 that features a unique scratch-and-slay system * ''

Fantasy Interactive Scenarios by Telephone ''Fantasy Interactive Scenarios by Telephone'' (''F.I.S.T.'') were a series of single-player telephone-based roleplaying games launched by UK games designer Steve Jackson in 1988 through the company Computerdial, who until then had used their ...

'' (''F.I.S.T.'') – a telephone-based single-player roleplaying game similar to ''Fighting Fantasy''

References

External links

*
Steve Jackson interview
on Yog Radio about Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy, June 2010 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Steve 1951 births Academics of Brunel University London Alumni of Keele University Board game designers British gamebook writers British retail company founders British video game designers Fighting Fantasy Games Workshop Living people Mass media people from Manchester Role-playing game designers Lionhead Studios