Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the widely adored Sky: Children of the Light, has announced the formation of a new publishing division called Thatgamepublisher. This move mirrors a growing pattern in the indie sector where studios that have achieved a breakout hit expand into publishing or funding to nurture other independent developers. Recent examples include Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, which started Outersloth in 2024 to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, which launched Kinetic Publishing and is already handling projects such as Precognition by Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the team behind Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the studio behind Peak, which now operates the Evil Landfall label.
The trend reflects a broader shift toward studios leveraging their financial windfalls to become patrons of the indie ecosystem. "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 starkly different 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, forcing a mass layoff of staff. The situation has transformed dramatically thanks to the runaway success of Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019. The title has resonated especially well in markets like China, generated a feature‑film adaptation, and amassed a massive player base—estimates suggest that roughly 70 percent of its users are female.
This demographic reach gives Thatgamecompany a unique audience that spans both seasoned gamers and newcomers, many of whom have never previously engaged with video games. Chen points out that the distribution landscape has also evolved. In the era of Journey, platforms such as PlayStation controlled the primary channels for reaching players.
Today, however, "the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers." A successful indie game can now rely on a community of millions who act as organic promoters, often wielding more sway than traditional media outlets like GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam. This shift empowers indie developers to become publishers themselves, leveraging their own communities as a powerful marketing engine. Thatgamepublisher seeks to capitalize on these dynamics. While the studio has already signed a handful of projects, details remain under wraps.
In a press release, Chen articulated the publisher's guiding 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 leader of the publishing effort, told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is hunting for titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that conventional genre or platform constraints will not dictate their choices. "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 explained.
According to Xue, emotional resonance can manifest in many forms—joy, chaos, humor, or quiet melancholy. The core question he poses to developers is simple: "Will this stay with someone after the screen goes dark?" If a game aspires to leave that lingering impression, Thatgamepublisher wants to engage in a dialogue about it. Funding philosophy also sets Thatgamepublisher apart. While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar projects, Xue indicated that the new label is prepared to back larger, AA‑budget endeavors.
"We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," he said. "We are open to working with everyone from solo developers with immense creativity to larger teams with AA‑level budgets." The terms of each publishing agreement will be tailored to the specific needs of the project.
Xue stressed that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships. This includes negotiating recoup percentages and other financial details on a case‑by‑case basis to ensure that creators retain sufficient upside while receiving the support they need. Thatgamepublisher is positioning itself as a full‑service publisher. In addition to capital, the label will provide production planning, platform strategy, launch coordination, marketing, community management, and long‑term intellectual‑property development.
This comprehensive approach contrasts with other indie publishers such as Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often adopt a funding‑only model. The industry is moving toward modular publishing arrangements, where developers can pick and choose services. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, recently told GamesIndustry.biz that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that flexibility is now the norm.
Xue acknowledges this shift, noting that Thatgamepublisher can offer modular deals when developers only need specific assistance—be it marketing, console porting, or additional funding. Yet he also believes that emotionally ambitious projects benefit from an integrated partnership. "For emotionally ambitious projects, 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 said.
The ultimate goal, according to Xue, is to meet each project where it stands and shape the partnership around what will be most useful to the developer. He points to Thatgamecompany's founding belief that games can forge shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in people.
This ethos has guided the studio's own catalog—from the meditative flow of Flow and the delicate bloom of Flower to the pilgrimage of Journey and the communal sky‑bound adventure of Sky: Children of the Light. "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 explained. Drawing on more than 300 million downloads and seven years of operating Sky as an emotional live‑service title, Thatgamepublisher believes it has the infrastructure and insight to help other creators scale without diluting the feeling at a game's core.
"By understanding the emotional truth of each game, building from its players and community, and allowing genuine resonance to create scale over time, we aim to help every project reach farther while staying true to the feeling at its heart," Xue concluded.