According to Short, the founders never worked together before and knew each other as semi-acquaintances at a local independent developer meetup in Montreal. After forming a studio, the team participated in a game jam in which they created and submitted their jam entry Sculptorgeist, which became a winning finalist. Kitfox Games began development of their first game, Shattered Planet, as a procedural death labyrinth game. Shattered Planet was released on iOS and later Android, Microsoft Windows, and MacOS in 2014.[1][2]
In March 2019, Kitfox Games partnered with Bay 12 Games to be its publisher for the Steam and itch.io version of Dwarf Fortress. According to a frequently asked questions post, Kitfox Games would manage its relationship with Steam and contractors while Bay 12 Games co-creator Tarn Adams would handle the technical side of the game.[3]
As of 2024, their website lists 14 developers, 12 employees and two of the original co-founders – Tanya X. Short and Xin Ran Liu.[4]