The studio was founded as Realtime Associates Seattle Division by Steve Ettinger when Dave Warhol, founder of Realtime Associates, Inc., asked him to open an additional studio in the Seattle area. Although some work was done on console titles, the studio specialized in handheld games, for the Game Boy (Color) and Game Gear. In 1999 the studio was acquired by Amaze Entertainment and was re-branded Griptonite Games. The focus was still on handheld titles, with new platforms such as the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and later the iPhone, as well as Jakks Pacific television games.
Around 2005 Griptonite as a brand was retired and all operations were done under Amaze Entertainment's name, but that would be overturned in July 2008 when the division returned to its original name and branding. On 14th November 2006 Amaze Entertainment, along with Griptonite, was acquired by Foundation 9 Entertainment and became a subsidiary of the umbrella group.
On 29th July 2009 F9E announced to have merged Amaze Entertainment and Griptonite Games into a single studio, using the name of the latter. Amaze Entertainment was discontinued from that point and all work is now done under the Griptonite Games brand.
On August 2nd, 2011, Griptonite Games was purchased by Glu Mobile Inc.