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 follows a growing pattern among independent studios that have achieved breakout success and are now leveraging their resources to nurture other indie developers. For instance, Innersloth, the creators of the viral sensation 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, which already lists Sam Barlow’s latest project Precognition among its slate. Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, has started Pocketpair Publishing, while Landfall Games—famous for Peak—has opened the Evil Landfall label. The trend underscores a shift: successful indie studios are increasingly becoming publishers, using their newfound capital and industry insight to elevate fellow creators. "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." When Journey launched in 2012, Thatgamecompany was far from flush with cash. Chen has recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the development of Journey nearly drove the studio to bankruptcy, resulting in a massive layoff of staff. The situation has dramatically changed in the intervening years.
Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has become a global phenomenon, especially in the Chinese market, and it even inspired a feature‑film adaptation. The revenue generated by Sky now enables Thatgamecompany to allocate funds toward what it terms "emotionally ambitious games"—projects that aim to evoke deep, lasting feelings in players.
Chen also points out a shift in how games reach audiences. In the early 2010s, distribution channels were largely controlled by platform owners such as Sony’s PlayStation.
Today, however, the distribution network is effectively owned by the players themselves, who act as influencers and word‑of‑mouth marketers. "A successful indie title could have millions of players, who are your strongest distribution," Chen says. "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 unique advantage Thatgamecompany brings to the table is its demographic reach. Chen notes that roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a considerably larger female audience than most other game companies.
This diverse audience can help promote titles that appeal to both men and women, and even attract players who have never previously engaged with video games. Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though the titles remain under wraps. In a press release, Chen articulated the publisher’s overarching 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 head of the publishing effort, elaborated to GamesIndustry.biz on the type of projects the studio is seeking.
"We are looking for titles that move people through play," Xue says. "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." He continues, "'Emotional' can mean many things. It can be joyful, chaotic, even funny.
The through line is always, will this stay with someone after the screen goes dark? If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation." While many indie publishers limit themselves to funding smaller games with budgets under $1 million, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to support larger, AA‑level endeavors. "We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," Xue explains.
"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 emphasizes that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships that still provide the resources needed to realize a game's fullest potential. Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering not only financing but also production planning, platform strategy, launch support, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development.
This comprehensive approach differentiates it from other indie publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often adopt a modular, funding‑only model. Luke Keighran, founder 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 require—be it marketing, console port assistance, or full‑scale production support.
Xue confirms that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements as needed, but stresses that emotionally ambitious projects often benefit from an integrated partnership. "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 says. Ultimately, the publisher aims to meet each project where it is and shape the collaboration around what will be most useful to the developer.
The guiding belief behind the venture is that games have the power to connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in humanity. "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 concludes.
He adds that emotionally ambitious games often require a different playbook, one that allows the heart of a project to emerge organically through prototyping, iteration, and creative dialogue. "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 says. Drawing on the experience of running 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 deeply felt experiences without diluting their impact.
By understanding each game's emotional truth, building from its community, and allowing genuine resonance to create scale over time, the publisher aims to help every project reach farther while staying true to the feeling at its heart.