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 mirrors a growing pattern among successful indie developers who, after achieving breakout success, establish publishing or funding arms to nurture other independent projects. For example, Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, launched Outersloth in 2024 to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook. Earlier this year, Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, introduced Kinetic Publishing, adding titles such as Precognition from Sam Barlow’s Immortality team to its roster.
Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, has started Pocketpair Publishing, while Landfall Games, the team behind Peak, now operates under the Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a broader shift in the industry where creators with a proven hit leverage their financial windfall to become benefactors for peers. Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany, explains the logic behind the transition: "When an indie game that was built on a shoestring budget becomes a massive success, you suddenly have a surplus of cash. Yet, you don’t want to morph a small, tight‑knit team into a thousand‑person corporation.
The natural question becomes where to invest that money. The safest bet is to fund projects you understand—other indie games. That's why many indie studios are moving into publishing." The financial reality was stark when Journey launched in 2012.
Chen has recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the development of Journey nearly pushed the studio to the brink of bankruptcy, resulting in a wave of layoffs. In contrast, 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 revenue generated by Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the capacity to allocate profits toward what they term "emotionally ambitious" games. Chen also notes a fundamental change in distribution. In the early 2010s, platforms like PlayStation controlled the pipeline. Today, "the distribution network belongs to the players, who are also influencers." A successful indie title can amass millions of dedicated fans who act as organic distributors, often out‑reaching traditional media outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam.
This democratization of reach gives indie studios a compelling reason to step into the publishing role, as they already command a built‑in audience. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic profile. Roughly 70% of Sky's player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender reach than many of its peers. Chen believes this creates a unique overlap: "If we promote a game that appeals equally to men and women, we tap into an audience that includes many people who have never played games before." Thatgamepublisher has already signed a few undisclosed projects, and Chen outlined the publisher's philosophy in a press release: "When we first began making games, many questioned whether interactive experiences could move players 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. Those moments convinced us that games can touch lives profoundly. 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, vice‑president of growth and corporate development at Thatgamecompany and the leader of the publishing initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the label is searching for titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are irrelevant; what matters is whether a game can reach meaningful emotional territory and linger with players after the screen goes dark.
"Emotional" can be joyful, chaotic, or even humorous, but the core question remains: will the experience stay with someone once the console is turned off? While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is open to larger, AA‑level projects. Xue explained that the studio is "quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," supporting solo developers with big ideas as well as larger teams with more substantial budgets.
Deal terms, such as revenue share, will be tailored to each project's needs, reflecting the company's developer‑first mindset. Unlike some peers that offer only funding, Thatgamepublisher positions itself as a full‑service partner, providing financing, production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This holistic approach contrasts with modular models championed by other indie publishers, where developers pick and choose services.
Xue noted that while modularity has its merits, emotionally ambitious games often benefit from an integrated partnership that safeguards the game's emotional core throughout development, production, and launch. The overarching belief driving the new label is that games can connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in humanity. Chen reflected that this philosophy has shaped every title Thatgamecompany has created, from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky. He added that the studio's experience running Sky as a live‑service title—amassing over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—has taught them how to scale deeply felt experiences without diluting their essence.
In summary, Thatgamepublisher aims to identify creators who are pushing emotional boundaries, provide them with the resources and expertise needed to realize their visions, and leverage the studio's unique audience to bring those games to a worldwide player base. By combining a developer‑centric publishing model with a commitment to emotional storytelling, the new label hopes to expand the medium's capacity to move, heal, and inspire.