Sea Limited’s digital entertainment arm, Garena, has acquired Vancouver’s Phoenix Labs, the studio behind the popular cross-platform co-op action RPG, Dauntless.
Phoenix Labs was founded in Vancouver in 2014 and now has a team of more than 100 developers across its offices in Vancouver, Canada, San Francisco, and Seattle. The studio launched its debut title Dauntless in 2019.
Jesse Houston, CEO and co-founder of Phoenix Labs, said, “Our partners at Garena have been our most steadfast supporters since the early days of Phoenix Labs, and we are excited to join forces with a global games leader.”
“With this next step, we’re able to ensure that we can provide the best possible experience for Dauntless players around the world. We’re extremely excited about what the future holds for Phoenix Labs, as we continue to support our ever-growing Dauntless community and explore future games.”
Following the acquisition, the existing management team at Phoenix Labs will continue to run the studio.
The teams intend to work together to continue building Phoenix Labs’ world-class development team, supporting the growth of Dauntless, and exploring new opportunities in global markets and on mobile.
In addition to bolstering Garena’s in-house content creation capabilities, the partnership allows Phoenix Labs to tap into Garena’s global network and unique strengths in mobile games and community building.
The companies will work together to continue adding new features to Dauntless and explore new growth opportunities in markets such as Asia and Latin America, and on mobile.