Entertainment Software Publishing
"Grandia", which ESP released in 1997, was the first third-party Saturn title to breach 500,000 units in sales. Afterwards, ESP released titles including "Giren's Ambition" and "Baroque", later extending footholds into the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 platforms with titles like "" and "Abarenbo Princess".
Joel Billings
Joel Billings approached Avalon Hill to publish a computer game called "Computer Bismarck", and when they turned him down he decided to found his own company to publish the game. Billings started SSI in 1979 just after finishing college, with a $1000 initial investment. The first product was "Computer Bismarck", which he co-wrote. Designed for the TRS-80 and Apple II home computers, it is viewed as the first computer war game ever published. It sold 7000 copies, considered reasonably successful for its time. The company was an industry leader for years in war games and role-playing video games.