Steve Jackson has stepped down as CEO of Steve Jackson Games, appointing long-time staff member Sabrina Gonzalez to lead the Austin-based publisher. Allison Page, previously managing editor, steps up as Chief Operating Officer. Jackson will transition back to a pure game design role. The change of guard comes after severe operational turbulence, most notably the abrupt departure of former CEO Meredith Placko and a missing annual stakeholder report.
The transition highlights a difficult financial period for the creator of Munchkin and the GURPS roleplaying games. Placko took the CEO position in early 2023 but subsequently resigned, returning to Turbo Dork. Jackson resumed control shortly after, but the financial strain remained clear. In a May 2026 update explaining the absence of the highly anticipated 2025 Stakeholder Report, Jackson confessed it had been an “unusual and very awful year,” leaving the company struggling to format the bad news. The 2025 report remains unpublished.
Gonzalez inherits these logistical and manufacturing hurdles. Having worked in game manufacturing during a brief hiatus from the company, the new CEO brings practical supply chain experience to the role.
This is not the first time Steve Jackson Games has faced existential threats. In 1990, the United States Secret Service raided the company’s Texas headquarters, seizing computers, hard drives, and the master copy of the GURPS Cyberpunk rulebook. The authorities mistakenly believed the game was a manual for real-world computer crime.
Jackson sued the Secret Service and won a landmark victory that directly influenced the creation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. At the time of the raid, the publisher was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and Jackson was only minimally involved in day-to-day operations. The court awarded the company statutory damages and legal fees, but more importantly, the crisis forced Jackson to re-engage with the business. The federal raid effectively saved the company from collapse.
Thirty-six years later, Jackson is stepping back from the business side once again. Gonzalez, a musician and former production artist, alongside Page, a playwright and former video game narrative designer, will now steer the company through its current manufacturing crisis while Jackson returns to developing new rules and titles.
Correction: 15th Sep – Meredith Placko left SJG to return her focus to Turbo Dork.
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