The company was founded in April 2014 by former Riot Games developers Jesse Houston, Sean Bender, and Robin Mayne.

Phoenix Labs was founded in 2014 by Jesse Houston, Sean Bender, and Robin Mayne, all former developers with Riot Games.

[7] In February 2018, Phoenix Labs received Series B funding from tech investors including Sapphire Ventures, GGV, Next Frontier, and MTGx,[8] though they maintained independent control of the studio.

[11] For example, Dauntless originally featured a paid loot boxes system called "Chroma Cores," which were removed after they received negative feedback from players.

[12] The studio raised another round of funding in October 2018, led by Sapphire Ventures,[6] intended to help expand the live service operations of Dauntless.

The acquirement did not affect normal operation of Phoenix Labs or Dauntless, and served to bolster Garena's international presence.