Thatgamecompany, the acclaimed creator behind 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 independent studios that have achieved breakout success and are now leveraging their financial windfalls and industry expertise to nurture other indie developers. Similar initiatives include Innersloth’s Outersloth, which began backing games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook in 2024, Kinetic Games’ Kinetic Publishing, Pocketpair Publishing, and the Evil Landfall label launched by Landfall Games.
Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany, explains the logic behind the trend: "When an indie title that was built on a shoestring budget becomes a massive hit, you suddenly have a surplus of cash. Yet, as a small, tightly‑knit team, you don’t want to explode into a massive corporation overnight, and you also don’t want the money to sit idle.
The most natural place to invest is in something you understand deeply – other indie games. That’s why many indie studios are stepping into publishing." The financial picture was dramatically different when Journey launched in 2012.
Chen has recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the project nearly drove the studio to bankruptcy, resulting in a wave of layoffs. In stark contrast, Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has generated extraordinary revenue, especially in the Chinese market, and even inspired a feature film adaptation. The profits from Sky now give Thatgamecompany the capacity to fund what it describes as "emotionally ambitious" games. Chen also notes a shift in how games reach audiences.
In the early 2010s, distribution channels were dominated by platform owners such as Sony. Today, the distribution network is effectively owned by the players themselves, many of whom act as influencers. A successful indie title can amass millions of dedicated fans who become its most potent promotional engine, often out‑performing traditional media outlets like GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam in terms of organic reach.
"If you have an audience that loves a certain type of experience, you can directly connect them with similar games," Chen says. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic composition. Roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender balance than many of its peers. "When we highlight a game that appeals equally to men and women, we reach a unique overlap of players, many of whom may be new to gaming altogether," Chen adds.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a handful of projects, though the titles remain under wraps. In the official press release, Chen articulated the publisher’s mission: "When we first started making games, many skeptics doubted that interactive experiences could move people as profoundly as film, literature, or music. Over the years, we have witnessed games forge lifelong friendships, help people heal personal struggles, reconnect loved ones, and restore hope.
Those moments convinced us that games can touch lives in deep, meaningful 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 effort, tells GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is hunting for games that "move people through play." He emphasizes that genre, platform, or team size are not primary criteria. "We are open to any team, at any stage of development, even prototypes.
What matters is whether the game reaches for meaningful emotional territory and uses interactivity to carry players there," Xue explains. According to Xue, "Emotional" can encompass joy, chaos, humor, melancholy, or any feeling that lingers after the console is turned off.
"If a game stays with someone after the screen goes dark, we want to talk." While many indie publishers restrict themselves to sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑level projects. Xue says the publisher is "quite flexible" regarding funding size and will work with solo creators as well as larger teams. The financial terms of each deal—such as revenue share and recoupment—will be tailored to the specific needs of the project.
"As developers ourselves, we understand the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships," he notes. 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 publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often adopt a funding‑only model. The industry is moving toward modular publishing, where developers can pick and choose services they need—whether it’s console porting, marketing, or full‑scale production support. Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive has observed that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that flexibility is now the norm.
Xue echoes this sentiment, stating that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements for funding, marketing, or other targeted assistance. Nevertheless, for projects that are deeply emotional, Xue believes a more integrated partnership is beneficial. He explains that creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community building, and platform strategy are often interwoven for such games.
By staying involved across these domains, the publisher can protect the game's emotional core and help the team deliver their vision to players. "Ultimately, we want to meet each project where it is and shape the partnership around what will be most useful to the developer," he says.
The philosophical backbone of the publisher is the belief that games can forge shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in people. This ethos has guided Thatgamecompany’s own catalog—from the meditative flow of Flow and the delicate bloom of Flower to the pilgrimage of Journey and the communal wonder of Sky.
Chen emphasizes that while the studio’s own work has proven the power of emotional games, the landscape is now populated by countless creators exploring new affective possibilities. "We want to help those ideas find their way to players," he asserts. Xue adds that emotionally ambitious games often require a different development playbook. The heart of a project may not be evident at the outset; it can emerge through prototyping, iteration, quiet discovery, and the right creative conversations.
The publisher’s role is to safeguard that process, offering resources, guidance, and alignment while allowing developers the freedom to uncover the strongest version of their work. Drawing on its experience running Sky: Children of the Light as a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation, Thatgamepublisher claims to understand how to scale heartfelt experiences without diluting their impact. By focusing on the emotional truth of each game, nurturing its community, and allowing genuine resonance to drive growth, the publisher aims to help every project reach a broader audience while staying true to its core feeling. In summary, Thatgamepublisher represents Thatgamecompany’s evolution from a singular indie studio into a supportive hub for creators who seek to craft games that linger in the heart long after the last pixel fades.
With flexible funding, full‑service support, and a clear emotional mission, the new label aims to empower a new generation of developers to push the boundaries of what interactive experiences can achieve.