Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the recent hit Sky: Children of the Light, has announced the formation of a new publishing division called Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern in the indie sector where studios that have scored a breakout success leverage their newfound resources to support other independent developers. Recent examples include Innersloth’s Outersloth, which backed games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games’ Kinetic Publishing, home to projects such as Precognition; Pocketpair’s Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games’ Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a shift from pure development to a hybrid model of creation and curation.
"Successful indie games often start on a shoestring budget," explains Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany. "When a title blows up, you suddenly have a surplus of cash. But you don’t want to turn a tight‑knit team into a massive corporation overnight, and you can’t just spend the money on anything. The logical place to invest is in something you understand—other indie games.
That’s why many indie studios are becoming publishers." Thatgamecompany’s own history underscores the significance of this transition. When Journey launched in 2012, the studio was nearly bankrupted, and the team faced massive layoffs. Fast forward to 2019, Sky: Children of the Light became a global phenomenon, especially in China, and even inspired a feature film. The revenue from Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the financial breathing room to back what it calls "emotionally ambitious" projects.
Chen also points out a fundamental change in how games reach audiences. In the era of Journey, distribution channels were dominated by platform owners like PlayStation.
Today, the distribution network belongs to the players themselves, who act as influencers and organic marketers. A successful indie title can amass millions of dedicated fans who become the most effective distribution channel, often surpassing traditional media outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam.
Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany lies in its audience demographics. Roughly 70% of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender reach than many competitors. "If we highlight a game that appeals equally to men and women, we tap into a unique overlap," Chen notes, emphasizing that many of their players are newcomers to gaming, which expands the potential market for any title they publish.
While the exact slate of games under Thatgamepublisher remains under wraps, Chen shared the publisher’s guiding philosophy in a press release: "When we first started making games, many doubted whether interactive experiences could move people as deeply as film, literature, or music. Over the years, games have proven they can forge lifelong friendships, heal personal struggles, reconnect loved ones, and restore hope.
Thatgamepublisher exists because we believe countless creators worldwide are exploring new emotional frontiers, 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 initiative, elaborated on the types of projects the studio is seeking. "We’re looking for games that move people through play," he told GamesIndustry.biz. "Genre, platform, or label doesn’t matter. We’ll work with any team size, any development stage, even prototypes, as long as the game strives for meaningful emotional territory and uses interactivity to take players there." Xue clarified that "emotional" can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or melancholy; the key question is whether the experience lingers after the console is turned off.
This open‑ended criteria allows Thatgamepublisher to consider a wide array of concepts, from intimate narrative adventures to expansive multiplayer experiences. Unlike many indie publishers that limit themselves to sub‑$1 million budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑level projects. "We’re flexible on funding and scale," Xue said.
"We can support solo creators with boundless imagination as well as larger teams with more substantial budgets." The terms of each publishing deal will be tailored to the specific needs of the project. Xue emphasized that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly agreements.
They aim to provide the right mix of resources—whether that’s financing, production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, or long‑term IP development. Thatgamepublisher distinguishes itself by offering a full‑service model, whereas other indie publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall often adopt a modular, funding‑only approach. Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive described the shift, saying the "old school publishing model is dead" and that modern developers can pick and choose services they need, from marketing to console conversion support.
Xue echoed this sentiment, noting that Thatgamepublisher can craft modular arrangements around funding, marketing, or other specific support, but that for emotionally ambitious titles an integrated partnership often yields the best results. By staying involved across creative development, production, positioning, and community strategy, the publisher can protect the game's emotional core and guide it to a wider audience.
Ultimately, the studio’s mission is rooted in its founding belief that games can forge deep emotional connections and bring out the best in people. Chen reflected, "That belief shaped everything we made—from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky.
We now want to amplify that impact by helping creators worldwide explore new emotional possibilities." He added that emotionally driven games often require a different playbook: the heart of a project may emerge gradually through prototypes, iteration, and quiet discoveries. Thatgamepublisher’s role is to safeguard that process, offering guidance, resources, and alignment while allowing developers the freedom to refine their vision.
Drawing on its experience running Sky: Children of the Light—a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—Thatgamecompany believes it can help other games achieve scale without sacrificing emotional depth. By understanding each game's emotional truth, building on its community, and allowing genuine resonance to drive growth, Thatgamepublisher aims to help every project reach farther while staying true to the feeling at its heart.