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 reflects a broader industry pattern where successful independent studios leverage their newfound financial stability to nurture other indie developers. Recent examples include Innersloth’s Outersloth, which began funding games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook in 2024, Kinetic Games’ Kinetic Publishing supporting projects such as Precognition, Pocketpair’s Pocketpair Publishing, and Landfall Games’ Evil Landfall label. These initiatives illustrate a growing trend: indie creators who achieve breakout success often transition into the role of publisher or investor, using their expertise and capital to uplift peers.
Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany, explains the logic behind the shift. "When an indie game that was built on a shoestring budget suddenly generates a surplus of cash, the studio faces a dilemma.
You don’t want to balloon into a massive corporation overnight, yet you have resources that need to be allocated wisely. The most natural place to invest is in something you understand deeply – other indie games. That’s why many small studios are moving into publishing." The financial landscape was dramatically different when Journey launched in 2012. Chen has recounted that the development of Journey nearly drove the studio to 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. The revenues from Sky now give Thatgamecompany the means to fund what it calls "emotionally ambitious" games, projects that aim to touch players on a deeper level than traditional gameplay mechanics alone.
Chen also points out a shift in distribution power. In the early 2010s, platforms like PlayStation controlled the channels through which games reached audiences. Today, the distribution network is effectively owned by the players themselves, who act as influencers and word‑of‑mouth marketers. "A successful indie title can amass millions of players who become its strongest distribution engine," Chen notes.
"If your community loves a certain style of game, they’ll actively seek out similar experiences, often more effectively than traditional media outlets." Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its audience demographic. Roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a reach into a segment that many developers overlook. Chen believes that promoting games that appeal equally to men and women can create a unique overlap, especially because many of their players are newcomers to gaming.
Although Thatgamepublisher has already signed a few projects, the titles remain under wraps. In a press release, Chen articulated the publisher’s mission: "When we first started making games, many doubted that interactive experiences could move people as profoundly 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.
Thatgamepublisher exists because we see countless creators worldwide 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, emphasizes the focus on emotional impact rather than genre or platform constraints. "We are open to teams of any size, 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. He adds that "emotional" can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or melancholy, but the key question is: "Will this stay with someone after the screen goes dark?" While many indie publishers concentrate on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑scale projects.
Xue says the studio is flexible regarding funding size and structure, tailoring deals to each project's needs. "As developers ourselves, we understand the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships," he states, noting that revenue‑share terms and recoup percentages will be negotiated on a case‑by‑case basis.
Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering not only capital but also production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This comprehensive approach contrasts with other indie publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often adopt a modular, funding‑only model. Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive has observed that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that modern developers prefer to pick and choose the services they need, whether that be marketing, console porting, or full‑scale support. Xue confirms that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements, but he believes that emotionally ambitious games benefit from an integrated partnership.
"Creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are often deeply interconnected for these projects. Being involved across those areas lets us protect the emotional core of the game and help the team bring that vision to players," he says.
The overarching philosophy driving the new venture is the belief that games can forge shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in people. Chen reflects on how this conviction shaped every title Thatgamecompany has released, from the meditative Flow to the soaring Journey.
He adds that the studio’s experience running Sky: Children of the Light—a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—has taught them how to scale heartfelt experiences without diluting their meaning. In summary, Thatgamepublisher aims to identify creators who are pushing the emotional boundaries of the medium, provide them with the resources and expertise needed to realize their visions, and help those games find an audience that will remember them long after the console is turned off. By combining a deep understanding of emotional storytelling with full‑service publishing capabilities, the new label hopes to expand the impact of indie games and demonstrate that interactive art can indeed move people in profound, lasting ways.