Seven years and seven games later Firefly, having felt the effects of the 2008 credit crunch which caused funding to disappear for their ambitious hack-and-slash RPG Dungeon Hero, decided a change was needed. Both games went on to sell over 2 million copies each. Crusader would eventually become the fan-favourite Stronghold game. A year later Firefly released Stronghold Crusader, which shifted the game's setting from medieval England to the Middle East and featured a more fast-paced RTS experience. Critics praised the game's unique premise, British charm and playability. The game became a surprise hit for publisher Take Two particularly in North America, the UK and Germany, where on PC it beat Grand Theft Auto 3 in the Christmas charts. The gaming press agreed that Firefly had managed to bring players a title which successfully merged the City Builder and RTS, without sacrificing the fun or depth found in either genre. Stronghold was released in 2001 to critical acclaim and commercial success. After working out of a small rented room in South London for two years, the team accomplished this with the release of Stronghold. Simon, working as a freelance coder and designer, and Eric in a Producer role eventually decided to break off on their own and set up Firefly Studios in 1999, with the aim of merging the City Builder and Real-Time Strategy genres.

Simon Bradbury and Eric Ouellette first met in the 90s at Impressions Games, while working on Caesar and Lords of the Realm.

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