The game started off as a Kickstarter project with a goal of $400,000. The campaign succeeded, making twice as much money than it originally intended. When the campaign ended, WayForward was still accepting donations through PayPal for the game to be funded. Donations discontinued on December 16, 2014. Making the campaign to be funded with $947,937.

Shantae's blue outfit is based on a concept designed for a pitch to create a Shantae title on the SNES and PC. At the end of her adventure her red outfit would turn a triumphant blue.

Risky's black and red outfit is based on her sprite in the original Shantae game.

The enemy Ikki which periodically appears when opening treasure chests is a reference to Nikki from the Nintendo 3DS message service Swapnote and later Swapdoodle.

In a 2020 interview with SiliconEra, series co-creator Matt Bozon described the development and distribution of each entry in the series as reflective of various changes in the video game industry and its treatment of smaller developers.

The eponymous first title was pitched for multiple platforms, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, PlayStation, and PC before eventually landing on the Game Boy Color due to the industry relying on deals with big-name distributors; Bozon stated that "If retail and distribution deals had come together more quickly for SNES, PSX, or PC, Shantae would have launched there."

Nintendo's establishment of WiiWare and DSiWare allowed WayForward to more readily develop a follow-up in the form of Shantae: Risky’s Revenge thanks to the digital distribution model making it less expensive to develop and release a smaller-scale title for systems that were otherwise demanding increasingly complex games. Later, The Nintendo 3DS' "split delivery system" that allowed digital-only games to be released at retail prices was a boon to the making of Shantae and the Pirate's Curse.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero and Shantae and the Seven Sirens meanwhile benefitted from the greater prioritization of digitally distributed games on home consoles by the start of the 2020s, with the rise of premium physical media imprints such as Limited Run Games further helping offset costs.