Phoenix Labs is a Canadian

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, British-Columbia. The company was founded in April 2014 by former

Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on ...

developers Jesse Houston, Sean Bender, and Robin Mayne. The studio's first project, ''Dauntless'', launched in open beta on Microsoft Windows in May 2018 and has been released on PC,

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

on May 21, 2019 and released on

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

on December 10, 2019.

History

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

Bioware BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

, and

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, ...

developers. 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 Sapphire Ventures (stylized as SAPPHIRE) is a venture capital firm with offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Austin, and London. The firm is considered one of the world's premier venture capital firms. The firm primarily invests in Series B t ...

, GGV, Next Frontier, and MTGx, though they maintained independent control of the studio. Throughout ''Dauntless development and pre-release, the company encouraged back and forth conversations between developers and players.

Game design Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

ers, directors, and executives all connect with players regularly through forums and 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 a paid

loot box In video games, a loot box (also called a loot crate or prize crate) is a consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomised selection of further virtual items, or loot, ranging from simple customization options for a player ...

es system called "Chroma Cores," which were removed after they received negative feedback from players. In July 2018, Phoenix Labs announced that ''Dauntless'' had reached 2 million registered accounts. The studio raised another round of funding in October 2018, led by

, intended to help expand the

live service In the video game industry, games as a service (GaaS) represents providing video games or game content on a continuing revenue model, similar to software as a service. Games as a service are ways to monetize video games either after their initi ...

operations of ''Dauntless''. In December 2018 Phoenix Labs launched a

season pass A season ticket, or season pass, is a ticket that grants privileges over a defined period of time. History The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has illustrative quotations which show the term ''season ticket'' used in the United States in 1820 ...

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 Garena is a Singaporean game developer and publisher of free online games. It is the digital entertainment arm of parent company Sea Ltd, which was formerly named Garena. The company distributes game titles on Garena+ in various countries a ...

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.

Games developed

Epic Games store criticism

In January 2019, Phoenix Labs announced partnership with

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, ...

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.

References

External links

* {{official, https://phxlabs.ca/ Canadian companies established in 2014 Video game development companies Video game companies of Canada Video game companies established in 2014 Companies based in Vancouver 2020 mergers and acquisitions Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies