Monolith was founded in 1994 by 6 people. Eventually it grew enough to consider game developing and publishing, even making their own proprietary engines. Among their first games was Blood, which was licensed from id, and the platformer featuring the famous, or rather infamous pirate cat Claw.

After 1999 they focused solely on developing games and later created some of the most popular FPS franchises including NOLF, F.E.A.R. and Condemned. In 2004 the company was acquired by media giant Time Warner. Currently Monolith counts more than 100 employees.