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 called Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern among successful indie developers who, after achieving breakout success, establish publishing or funding arms to uplift other independent projects. Examples of this trend include Innersloth’s Outersloth, which backed games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games’ Kinetic Publishing, home to titles such as Precognition; Pocketpair’s Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games’ Evil Landfall label, among many others. "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, Chen recalls that the studio was on the brink of bankruptcy and had to lay off most of its staff.
The financial picture has shifted dramatically since then. 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 revenue generated by Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the financial bandwidth to back what Chen describes as "emotionally ambitious" games.
Chen also points out a fundamental change in how games reach audiences. In the early 2010s, distribution channels were controlled by platform holders like Sony. Today, the distribution network belongs to 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," he 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 distinctive asset for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach.
Roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a larger female audience than most game companies worldwide. Chen believes this creates a unique overlap when promoting titles that appeal to both men and women, especially because many of their players are newcomers to gaming.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though details remain under wraps. In the official press release, 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 leader of the publishing initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is hunting for games that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are irrelevant; what matters is the ability of a game to linger in a player’s mind after the console is turned off.
"Emotional can mean many things—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," Xue explained.
While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑level projects. Xue noted that the studio is "quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," and will work with solo creators as well as larger teams.
The terms of each deal—recoup percentages, revenue splits, and so forth—will be tailored to the specific needs of the 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 financing, production planning, platform and launch strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This contrasts with some newer indie publishing models that provide only funding or a modular menu of services. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, has observed that "the old school publishing model is dead," and that developers now pick and choose the services they need—whether it’s marketing, console conversion assistance, or full‑scale production support. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can adopt a modular approach when required, but believes that emotionally driven projects often 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 overarching philosophy behind the new label is simple: games can forge deep emotional connections and bring out the best in people. Chen summed up the studio’s legacy, stating that everything from Flow to Sky has been built on that belief, and that the next step is to help other creators explore those emotional frontiers.
"Our experience operating Sky: Children of the Light as an emotional live‑service game with more than 300 million downloads and seven years of global operations has taught us how deeply felt experiences can reach broad audiences without losing what makes them meaningful. 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."