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 reflects a growing pattern in the indie gaming world where studios that have achieved breakout success leverage their financial windfall to support other independent developers.
Recent 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 started Kinetic Publishing and is backing projects such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the team behind Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the studio behind Peak, which now operates under the Evil Landfall label. The trend underscores a shift toward indie studios becoming publishers, distributors, and investors for their peers. "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‑person 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." The financial reality was far different when Journey launched in 2012. Chen has recounted that the project nearly bankrupted the studio and resulted in a massive layoff. Fast forward to 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 success of Sky has generated enough profit for Thatgamecompany to consider allocating resources toward what the studio describes as "emotionally ambitious" games. Chen also notes a fundamental change in how games reach players. In the era of Journey, 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 hit indie title can now amass millions of dedicated fans who act as organic marketers, spreading the word through social media, streaming, and word‑of‑mouth. "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." Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic profile.
Chen points out that roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender reach than many of its peers. "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." According to a press release, Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though details remain under wraps. Chen articulated the publisher’s mission: "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 head of the publishing effort, elaborated on the types of projects the new label seeks. "We are looking for titles that move people through play," Xue told GamesIndustry.biz.
"The typical genre or platform restrictions would not apply to us. 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 clarified that "emotional" can encompass a wide spectrum—joy, chaos, humor, melancholy—so long as 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 budgets, Thatgamepublisher is willing to back larger, AA‑level endeavors. "We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," Xue said.
"We are open to working with everyone from solo developers with immense creativity to larger teams with AA‑level budgets." The publishing agreement terms, including revenue share and recoupment percentages, will be tailored to each project's specific needs. Xue emphasized that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships that empower creators 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 support, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This contrasts with some indie publishers that adopt a funding‑only model or a modular approach where developers pick and choose services.
Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, observed that "the old school publishing model is dead," and that modern arrangements are more flexible, allowing studios to select only the assistance they require. Xue echoed this sentiment, noting that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements for funding, marketing, or other targeted support. However, he also argued that emotionally ambitious projects often benefit from an integrated partnership that weaves together creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community building, and platform strategy.
"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. Ultimately, the goal is to meet each project where it stands and shape the partnership around what will be most useful to the developer.
Xue highlighted the studio’s founding philosophy: games have the power to connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in us. This belief has guided Thatgamecompany’s own catalog—from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky—and now informs its publishing ambitions. "We learned from our own work that emotionally ambitious games often need a different playbook.
The heart of a project is not always easy to define at the beginning. It can emerge through prototypes, iteration, quiet discoveries, and the right 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," Xue said. Drawing on more than 300 million downloads of Sky: Children of the Light and seven years of operating an emotional live‑service title globally, Thatgamepublisher believes it can help other creators scale their visions without sacrificing the feeling at the core.
By understanding each game's emotional truth, nurturing its community, and allowing genuine resonance to drive growth, the publisher aims to amplify the reach of every project while staying true to its heart.