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 named Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern among successful independent studios that, after scoring a breakout success, choose to leverage their newfound resources by supporting other indie developers. Notable examples include Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, which launched Outersloth in 2024 to fund games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, which introduced Kinetic Publishing and is backing titles such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, which started Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the team behind Peak, which now operates under the Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a broader shift in the industry where creators who have tasted commercial success seek to give back to the community that helped them rise.
"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 previously recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the development of Journey nearly pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy, resulting in a mass layoff of staff. The situation has changed dramatically in the years since.
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 sustained revenue from Sky now provides Thatgamecompany with the financial muscle to fund what it describes as "emotionally ambitious" games.
Chen also notes that the distribution landscape has shifted. In the era of Journey, platforms like PlayStation controlled the primary channels for reaching players. Today, "the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers." A successful indie title can amass millions of dedicated fans who act as organic promoters, often out‑reaching traditional media outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam itself.
"You have an audience who, let's say, love friendslop games, and they're looking for other friendslop games. You actually have more influence for distribution than GameSpot, than IGN, than Steam, right? So that's why I think today indie game studios are more likely to become publishers – they also have additional distribution reach," Chen adds.
Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach. Roughly 70 % of Sky's player base is female, giving the studio a much larger female audience than many other game companies. "If we promote or feature a game that would be appealing to men and women equally, our audience is going to have a very unique overlap, because there are many of our players who have never played games before," Chen explains. Thatgamepublisher has already signed a handful of projects, though the titles remain under wraps.
In a press release, Chen articulated the publisher's guiding 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 searching for games that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are not primary filters. "The typical genre or platform restrictions would not apply to us," Xue said.
"We are open to teams of any size, projects at any stage, and ideas still being prototyped. What matters is not the label, genre, scale, or format, but whether the game reaches for meaningful emotional territory and uses interactivity to take players there." Xue elaborated on what "emotional" means to the publisher: it can be joyful, chaotic, humorous, or even melancholic, but the core question is whether the experience lingers after the console is turned off. "If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation," he added. While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar projects, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger endeavors.
"We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," Xue explained. "We are open to working with everyone from solo developers with immense creativity to larger teams with AA‑level budgets." The specifics of each publishing agreement—such as revenue share and recoupment terms—will be tailored to the individual project's needs. Xue stressed that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships that still provide the resources necessary to realize a game's full potential. Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering not only capital but also production planning, platform strategy, launch coordination, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development.
This comprehensive approach contrasts with some indie publishers that adopt a modular, funding‑only model. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, remarked earlier that "the old school publishing model is dead," noting that modern developers can now pick and choose the services they need—whether it's marketing assistance, console porting, or full‑scale production support. Xue confirmed that Thatgamepublisher can adopt modular arrangements when appropriate, but he believes that emotionally ambitious projects often benefit from an integrated partnership.
"For emotionally ambitious projects, creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are often deeply interconnected. 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 said. Ultimately, the publisher aims to meet each project where it stands and shape the collaboration around the developer's most pressing needs.
The underlying belief driving the venture is that games have the power to forge shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in people. "That belief has shaped everything Thatgamecompany has made, from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky: Children of the Light. But we also know this path is bigger than the work of one studio. 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 explained.
He added that emotionally ambitious games often require a different playbook, one that accommodates discovery through prototypes, iteration, and quiet creative conversations. "Our role is to help protect that process, giving developers the room, guidance, and alignment they need to discover the strongest version of their work," he said.
Drawing on the experience of operating Sky: Children of the Light—a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—Thatgamepublisher believes it can 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.