Developers who went under the radar until striking gold?

Who are some of the game developers/studios who were underrated until one day they suddenly got their fame? AAA or indie

One that comes to my mind and inspires me is John Romero who worked on 89 games before Doom. Maybe he was not underrated but not as famous as he was with Doom.

I'm asking because I'm interested about game development history.

EDIT: Not talking about first game being success. More like releasing crappy games until one day making something that people liked more, or something like that.