Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the recent hit Sky: Children of the Light, has announced the creation of a new publishing division called Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern in the independent game sector where studios that have scored a breakout success leverage their newfound resources to support other indie developers. Recent examples include Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, which launched Outersloth in 2024 to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, the team behind Phasmophobia, which started Kinetic Publishing and is now handling titles such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the developers of Peak, which now operate under the Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a desire among small studios to reinvest profits into projects that share their artistic sensibilities.
"This is a very common pattern because number one, successful indie games usually are on a shoestring, and if the game becomes very successful, suddenly you have an overflow of cash," explains Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany. "But then you are a small team making games, you don't want to suddenly become a thousands‑of‑people company, right? And then you can't really spend the money, so with additional money, where can you invest? You want to invest in something you understand, something you really are familiar with.
So investing into other indie games is a natural choice for everyone, and that's why many indie companies are doing that." When Journey launched in 2012, the studio was far from flush with cash. Chen has recounted that the project's development nearly bankrupted the company and resulted in a wave of layoffs. The situation is dramatically different today. Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has become a global phenomenon, especially in the Chinese market, and even inspired a feature‑film adaptation.
The title has generated enough revenue for Thatgamecompany to consider allocating a portion of its profits toward what it calls "emotionally ambitious games." Chen also notes a shift in how games reach audiences. In the early 2010s, distribution channels were largely controlled by platform holders such as Sony.
"Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he says. A successful indie title can now amass millions of players who act as organic promoters, providing a distribution power that rivals traditional media outlets like GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam. "You have an audience who love friends‑lop games and they're looking for more of the same.
You actually have more influence for distribution than those big outlets," Chen adds. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach.
Roughly 70 % of Sky: Children of the Light's player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender balance than many of its peers. "If we promote a game that appeals to both men and women, our audience has a unique overlap, because many of our players have never played games before," Chen explains. Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though the titles remain under wraps.
In a press release, Chen articulated the publisher's philosophy: "When we first began making games, many people questioned whether interactive experiences could move players as deeply as film, literature or music. Over the years, games have shown us what impact they can have on people. Lifelong friendships formed. Personal struggles healed.
Loved ones reconnected. Hope restored. Those moments convinced us that games are capable of touching lives in profound ways.
Thatgamepublisher exists because we believe there are countless creators around the world discovering new emotional frontiers for this medium, and we want to help them bring those visions to life." SJ Xue, Thatgamecompany's vice‑president of growth and corporate development and the leader of the publishing effort, told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is hunting for games that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are irrelevant; what matters is whether the experience can linger in a player's mind after the console is turned off. "Emotional can mean many things – joyful, chaotic, even funny – but the through line is always: will this stay with someone after the screen goes dark? If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation." While many indie publishers limit themselves to sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑scale projects. Xue explained that the publisher's funding model is flexible, ranging from solo creators with groundbreaking ideas to larger teams requiring more substantial resources.
The specific terms of each deal – such as revenue share or recoupment percentages – will be tailored to the individual project's needs. "As developers ourselves, we understand how important it is to build partnerships that are fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly, while giving teams the support they need to realise the strongest version of their game," he said. Thatgamepublisher intends to operate as a full‑service publisher, offering not only capital but also production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This comprehensive approach contrasts with other indie publishers that often adopt a modular, funding‑only model.
Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, recently remarked that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that developers now choose the exact services they need, whether that's marketing, console porting assistance, or full‑scale publishing support. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can adapt its involvement based on each developer's requirements, providing modular arrangements for funding, marketing, or other specific support. However, he believes that emotionally ambitious projects often benefit from an integrated partnership where creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are tightly interwoven. "Being involved across those areas allows us to bring the most value, protect the emotional core of the game, and help the team carry that vision all the way to players," he explained.
The underlying motivation for developers to consider Thatgamepublisher lies in the studio's founding belief that games can forge deep emotional connections and bring out the best in people. This principle has guided Thatgamecompany's own portfolio, from the meditative Flow to the heartfelt Journey. "Around the world, creators are exploring their own ways to expand what games can make people feel, and we want to help those ideas find their way to players," Xue said.
He added that emotionally ambitious games often require a different development playbook. The heart of a project may not be obvious at the outset; it can emerge through prototypes, iterative design, quiet discoveries, and the right creative conversations. Thatgamepublisher's role, according to Xue, is to safeguard that process, offering developers space, guidance, and alignment to uncover the strongest version of their work.
Drawing on its experience running Sky: Children of the Light as a live‑service title with more than 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation, Thatgamepublisher claims to understand how to scale heartfelt experiences without diluting their impact. "By understanding the emotional truth of each game, building from its players and community, and allowing genuine resonance to create scale over time, we aim to help every project reach farther while staying true to the feeling at its heart," Xue concluded.
In summary, Thatgamecompany's new publishing arm, Thatgamepublisher, seeks to empower indie developers who aim to craft games that resonate on an emotional level. By offering flexible funding, full‑service support, and a philosophy rooted in the power of shared experiences, the studio hopes to nurture the next generation of titles that can move players as deeply as any film, book, or piece of music.