Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey and the recent hit Sky: Children of the Light, has announced the creation of a publishing division named Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern in the indie sector where studios that have scored a breakout success expand into publishing or financing to support other independent developers. In 2024, Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, launched Outersloth to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook.
Earlier this year, Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, started Kinetic Publishing, whose slate includes Precognition, a new project from Sam Barlow, the mind behind Immortality. Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, introduced Pocketpair Publishing, while Landfall Games, the team behind Peak, rolled out the Evil Landfall label.
The list of indie studios turning publisher is rapidly growing. "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‑of‑people 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 said that the development of Journey nearly drove the studio to bankruptcy and resulted in a wave of layoffs.
The situation is dramatically different now. Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has become a global phenomenon, especially in the Chinese market, and has even inspired a feature film. The revenues generated by Sky give Thatgamecompany the financial footing to fund what it calls "emotionally ambitious" projects.
Chen also points out a shift in how games reach players. In the era of Journey, distribution channels were dominated by platform owners such as Sony. "Today the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he notes. A popular indie title can amass millions of players who become its most effective promoters, often eclipsing traditional media outlets like GameSpot, IGN or even Steam.
This democratization of distribution gives indie studios a powerful reason to become publishers themselves, as they can leverage their own community to amplify new releases. Another distinctive asset for Thatgamecompany is its audience demographic. "We have a much bigger female audience reach than most of the game companies in the world," Chen says, adding that roughly 70% of Sky's player base is female. He believes that a game appealing to both men and women will find a unique overlap within this community, especially because many of their players are newcomers to gaming.
According to a press release, Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of games, though details remain under wraps. Chen articulated the publisher's mission: "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 initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is hunting for titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform or label will not limit their interest. "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.
"'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 focus on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger endeavors.
Xue said the firm is "quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," willing to work with solo creators who possess huge creative vision as well as larger teams seeking AA‑level financing. The specifics of each publishing agreement, such as revenue share and recoupment terms, will be tailored to the needs of the individual project. "As developers ourselves, we understand how important it is to build partnerships that are fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly, while giving teams the support they need to realise the strongest version of their game," he added. Thatgamepublisher will operate 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 some newer indie publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which initially adopted a funding‑only model. The industry is moving toward modular publishing arrangements, where developers can pick and choose the services they need. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, told GamesIndustry.biz that "the old school publishing model is dead," and that modern publishers provide a menu of options ranging from marketing assistance to console porting. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can adapt its involvement based on each developer's requirements, offering modular packages for funding, marketing, or other support.
However, he also believes that emotionally ambitious projects often thrive under a more 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 overarching philosophy behind the new publishing arm is the belief that games can forge deep emotional connections and bring out the best in people.
Chen summed it up: "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." He continued, "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." Drawing on the experience of running Sky: Children of the Light as a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation, Thatgamecompany believes it has a proven formula for scaling heartfelt experiences without diluting their impact. "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.