Founders Jesse Houston, Sean Bender, and Robin Mayne built Phoenix Labs in an effort to create a studio that focuses on online co-operative gaming experiences. Early on, the founders were joined by former Bioware, Riot Games, Capcom, and Blizzard Entertainment developers. They turned to former co-workers to fill roles at Phoenix Labs and the first 23 of the studio's employees had all shipped games with Houston previously. Their combined understanding of how multiplayer games can bring people together led to the development of Dauntless and its free-to-play business model. In order to continue development, Phoenix Labs raised Series B funding to support that vision in February 2018 and released Dauntless in open beta on May 24, 2018. Despite that investment, the company has maintained independent control of the studio. The company has continued to develop Dauntless by encouraging back and forth conversations between developers and players. Game designers, directors, and executives all connect with players regularly through forums and relevant social media. Since the game's beta release, the studio has continued to make changes based on player feedback and discussion. For example, Dauntless originally featured paid-for loot boxes in the form of Chroma Cores, which granted players random cosmetic items when opened. Conversations with the community, however, led to Phoenix Labs removing Chroma Cores and allowing players to select and buy the cosmetic items they want. In July 2018, Phoenix Labs announced that Dauntless had reached 2 million registered accounts. Later that year, in October, the studio raised another round of funding led by Sapphire Ventures. The funding round was intended to help expand the live service operations of Dauntless. In December 2018, that live service evolved as Phoenix Labs launched the first season of Hunt Pass, a series of challenges that promise limited-time rewards while the season lasts. Since then, Phoenix Labs has produced a steady stream of content updates. The studio had originally promised a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launch for Dauntless in April 2019. This was delayed, however, and given a wider release window of summer 2019. On January 29, 2020, Garena announced the acquisition of Phoenix Labs for an estimated US$150 million in order to build up its game development capabilities. The acquisition will also lead to more features in games, as well as greater opportunities for expansion in new markets.
In January 2019, Phoenix Labs announced partnership with Epic Games which will see Dauntless become available on PC exclusively through the Epic Games store and require all players to sign in using an Epic Games account. While the move to make Dauntless an Epic Games store exclusive was criticized by some, Mayne cited cross-platform play as the partnership's main benefit.
