Thatgamecompany, the acclaimed creator of 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 among successful independent studios that, after scoring a breakout success, create publishing or funding arms to nurture other indie projects. Examples of this trend include Innersloth, the team behind Among Us, which launched Outersloth in 2024 to support games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, the developers of Phasmophobia, which started Kinetic Publishing and now backs titles such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, known for Peak, which created the Evil Landfall label. The industry is witnessing a wave of creators turning into curators, leveraging their own experience and capital to lift up the next generation of games.
Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany, explained the motivation behind the new venture: "When an indie game that was built on a shoestring budget becomes a massive hit, you suddenly have a surplus of cash. Yet the studio remains small, and you don’t want to balloon into a thousand‑person operation.
The logical place to invest that excess is in something you understand deeply—other indie games. That’s why many indie studios are moving into publishing." The financial reality was stark for Thatgamecompany during the development of Journey in 2012. Chen has recounted that the project nearly drove the studio to bankruptcy and resulted in a wave of layoffs.
Fast forward to the present, and the picture is dramatically different. Sky: Children of the Light, launched in 2019, has become a global phenomenon, especially in the Chinese market, and even inspired a feature‑film adaptation. The revenues generated by Sky have given Thatgamecompany the breathing room to allocate funds toward what it describes as "emotionally ambitious games"—titles that aim to touch players on a profound, personal level. Chen also highlighted a shift in how games reach audiences.
In the early 2010s, distribution channels were largely controlled by platform holders like PlayStation. Today, distribution is in the hands of players themselves, who act as influencers and word‑of‑mouth marketers. "A successful indie title can now amass millions of players who become its most powerful distribution engine," Chen said.
"Your community can be more effective than traditional media outlets like GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam." Another unique advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach. The studio notes that roughly 70% of Sky's player base is female, giving it a broader gender balance than many other developers.
"If we promote a game that appeals equally to men and women, we have a distinct overlap because many of our players have never been traditional gamers before," Chen added. While specific titles have not yet been disclosed, Chen confirmed that Thatgamepublisher has already signed a handful of projects.
In a press release, he articulated the publisher's philosophy: "When we first began making games, many doubted whether interactive experiences could move players as deeply as film, literature, or music. Over the years, games have proven their capacity to forge lifelong friendships, heal personal struggles, reconnect loved ones, and restore hope. Those moments convinced us that games can touch lives in profound ways. 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, told GamesIndustry.biz that the firm is searching for games that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are not primary concerns.
"We are open to any team, any stage of development, even prototypes," Xue said. "What matters is whether the game reaches for meaningful emotional territory and uses interactivity to guide players there." Xue elaborated on the definition of "emotional": it can be joyful, chaotic, funny, or even melancholy. The key question he poses to developers is, "Will this stay with someone after the screen goes dark?" If a game aspires to that lingering impact, Thatgamepublisher wants to discuss it. Unlike many indie publishers that focus on sub‑$1 million budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑scale projects.
"We are flexible with funding and project scale," Xue noted. "We can work with solo creators who have immense creativity or with larger teams that need AA‑level resources." The terms of each publishing deal will be tailored to the project's needs. Xue explained that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships.
They aim to provide the support necessary for studios to realize the strongest version of their game. Thatgamepublisher is positioning itself as a full‑service publisher, offering not only capital but also production planning, platform strategy, launch execution, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This contrasts with some peers, such as Outersloth and Evil Landfall, which primarily provide funding.
The broader industry trend is moving toward modular publishing models, where developers can pick and choose the services they need. Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive remarked that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that modern publishers act more like service providers. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can adapt its offering: "We can be modular, providing just funding, just marketing, or any combination required. However, for emotionally ambitious projects we often find an integrated partnership works best.
Creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are deeply intertwined for these games. Being involved across those areas lets us protect the emotional core and guide the vision all the way to players." The overarching reason developers might choose Thatgamepublisher, according to Xue, lies in the studio's founding belief: games can connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in humanity.
He traced this philosophy back to the studio's own catalog—from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky—stating that while Thatgamecompany has proven the concept, the potential extends far beyond a single studio. "Creators worldwide are exploring new ways to make games feel, and we want to help those ideas reach players," Xue said.
He also highlighted the unique challenges of emotionally ambitious games. Their heart often emerges gradually through prototypes, iteration, quiet discoveries, and creative conversations.
Thatgamepublisher's role is to safeguard that process, offering room, guidance, and alignment for developers to uncover the strongest expression of 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—Thatgamepublisher believes it understands how to scale deeply felt experiences without diluting their meaning.
By focusing on the emotional truth of each game, building from its community, and allowing genuine resonance to drive growth, the publisher aims to help projects reach broader audiences while staying true to the feelings at their core. In summary, Thatgamecompany's new publishing arm, Thatgamepublisher, seeks to fund and nurture games that prioritize emotional impact over conventional metrics. With flexible funding, full‑service support, and a philosophy rooted in the power of shared feeling, the studio hopes to empower indie creators to craft experiences that linger long after the console is turned off.