They were among the first and popularized it. Their success with it fueled what we see today. They may not have been be first but they were clearly the most popular example (and continue to be)

If you think about it, SC did change gaming forever. Now everyone release unfinished games and calls them “alpha” while they use the money from sales to finance development. Many games are perpetually unreleased now. Their model has spread like cancer and made gaming worse for everyone. Meanwhile their stinking pile of garbage still has you falling out of elevators 13 years into development.