Peter Molyneux, who had previously founded Bullfrog Productions and Lionhead Studios, established 22cans on 20 February 2012 in Farnborough.

[5] In 2015, following the troubled launch of Godus, Simon Phillips was hired as the company's chief executive officer, replacing Molyneux, who would henceforth focus on game design.

[7] In November 2016, 22cans released The Trail: Frontier Challenge for mobile devices[8] with modest promotion.

[14] Molyneux announced in December 2021 that Legacy will incorporate blockchain-based elements including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which will allow players to sell and purchase virtual goods as part of the business simulation gameplay.

[18] In June 2023, Molyneux announced 22cans was working on a new game, likely for PC and console and less likely to be developed for mobile.