Daydream Software
Their first game was "Safecracker", a point and click adventure game published by DreamCatcher Interactive. The game had a tumultuous production, starting when GT Interactive bought initial publisher Warner Interactive Europe. Daydream Software went public in late 1996. The company's goal was to increase its economic and decision-making freedom, and to secure the ability to select a publisher at the end of each game's development rather than at the beginning. President Jans Phersson-Broburg argued that self-financing Daydream's future games with money from Swedish investors, instead of obtaining "funding linked to specific projects" from publishers, would offer the developer more stability, flexibility and room for growth. For Daydream's public launch, roughly 20 million kr worth of shares, or 45.5% of the company, were offered to investors in Sweden. The initial public offering was a success, and Daydream opened on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's Stockholm Börsinformation (SBI) list in January 1997. Daydream was eventually able to buy back the rights to "Safecracker".
Fire Emblem
The first "Fire Emblem" title, "Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light", was originally never intended as a commercial game, defined by creator Shouzou Kaga as a dōjin project with three other job-holding students. As it turned out, the game was successful, prompting the development of more games in the series. The game was developed at Intelligent Systems, whose previous notable game was the strategy game "Famicom Wars". Kaga would work on the "Fire Emblem" series until "Thracia 776", when he left Nintendo and began development on "Tear Ring Saga" for the PlayStation. After "Thracia 776", the "Fire Emblem" series had several releases on portable devices. At this time, Marth and Roy from "Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light" and "Sword of Seals" appeared as playable characters in "Super Smash Bros. Melee", prompting western interest in the "Fire Emblem" series. The positive reception of the characters made Nintendo decide to localize "The Blazing Blade" under the title "Fire Emblem". Due to its overseas success, it was decided to return the series to home consoles for "Path of Radiance" for the GameCube. Despite it arriving late in the GameCube's life cycle, it provided a late boost to sales, reaffirming Nintendo's faith in the series. By 2010, the series was suffering from declining sales and Nintendo told Intelligent Systems that if their next "Fire Emblem" failed to sell above 250,000 units, the series would be cancelled. This prompted Intelligent Systems to include lots of features new to the series, intending to make it the culmination of the series. The game's reception and sales ended up saving the series from cancellation, convincing Nintendo to continue production.