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".
Traitors Gate 2: Cypher
"Traitors Gate 2" was commissioned by The Adventure Company following its success with the North America release of Daydream Software's "Traitors Gate", which sold roughly 250,000 units in the region by August 2003. Daydream told its investors that a deal with "an internationally recognized publisher" to develop the sequel was reached in April 2002, and that it was funded ahead of time by this outside party. The project was scheduled for a 14-month development cycle. "Traitors Gate 2" was ultimately developed by the company 258 Productions. Nigel Papworth, who conceived and designed the game at 258, recalled, "I didn't really want to go back and do a pre-rendered game. It's an awful lot of administration and the actual workload is huge. But I said [to TAC]: 'I'll do it if you'll let me do it in real-time 3D.' " He felt that graphics technology had advanced enough to make this leap, and that the switch offered him "a huge amount of freedom for the gameplay." As a result, the team licensed the Gamebryo engine to create "Traitors Gate 2". By June 2002, the game was set for a September 2003 release.