The company was founded in April 2014 by former Riot Games developers Jesse Houston, Sean Bender, and Robin Mayne. The first 23 of the studio's employees had all shipped games with Houston previously.
In February 2018, Phoenix Labs opened its first US studio in San Mateo, California
In February 2018, Phoenix Labs received Series B funding from tech investors including Sapphire Ventures, GGV, Next Frontier, and MTGx, though they maintained independent control of the studio. In December 2018 Phoenix Labs launched a season pass feature called Hunt Pass, a series of challenges that promise limited-time rewards while the season lasts.
The studio had originally promised a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launch for Dauntless in April 2019, though this date was later pushed to summer 2019. The game officially launched on consoles on September 26, 2019.
On January 29, 2020, Garena announced the acquisition of Phoenix Labs for an estimated US$150 million.
On December 2, 2020 Phoenix Labs announced it was opening two new offices in Los Angeles, California and Montreal, Quebec.
In January 2019, Phoenix Labs announced partnership with Epic Games which made Dauntless available on PC exclusively through the Epic Games store and required all players to sign in using an Epic Games account.
While the move to make Dauntless an Epic Games store exclusive received criticism, Mayne cited cross-platform play as the partnership's main benefit.
