Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the recent hit Sky: Children of the Light, has officially unveiled a new publishing division named Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern among independent studios that have scored breakout successes and are now leveraging their financial windfalls to nurture other indie developers. Earlier this year, Innersloth, the creators of the viral sensation Among Us, launched Outersloth to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook. Likewise, Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, introduced Kinetic Publishing with projects such as Precognition, while Pocketpair (the studio behind Palworld) and Landfall Games (the team behind Peak) have each started their own publishing arms.
The industry is witnessing a wave of small studios evolving into publishers, and Thatgamecompany is joining that trend. "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 stark when Journey launched in 2012.
Chen has recounted that the game's development nearly bankrupted the studio and resulted in a mass layoff. 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 revenue generated by Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the capacity to fund what it calls "emotionally ambitious games" and to do so at scales that can reach AA‑level budgets. Chen also notes a shift in how games reach audiences. In the era of Journey, distribution channels were dominated by platform holders like Sony.
"Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he says. A successful indie title can amass millions of players who become organic promoters, often out‑reaching traditional media outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam itself. This democratized distribution gives indie studios a powerful lever to become publishers, as they can leverage their own community to amplify new releases. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its audience demographic.
"We have a much bigger female audience reach than most of the game companies in the world," Chen points out, citing that roughly 70 % of Sky's player base is female. This gender‑balanced community opens the door for games that appeal equally to men and women, and even to players who are new to gaming, creating a unique overlap that can be highly valuable for publishers seeking diverse titles. Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though the studio has chosen to keep the specifics under wraps for now. In the official press release, Chen articulated the publisher's 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 initiative, elaborated on the type of projects the new label seeks.
"We are looking for titles that move people through play," Xue told GamesIndustry.biz. "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 added that "emotional" can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or even melancholy, as long as the experience lingers after the console is turned off.
"If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation," Xue said. While many indie publishers concentrate on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger endeavors. "We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," Xue explained.
"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 project's needs, including revenue‑share structures and recoupment percentages. Xue emphasized that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships that empower creators to realize the strongest version of their games.
Thatgamepublisher is positioning itself 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 some newer indie publishers that adopt a modular, funding‑only model. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, recently remarked that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that developers now choose the specific services they need—be it marketing, console porting assistance, or funding.
Xue confirmed that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements as well, adapting to each developer's requirements. However, he believes that emotionally ambitious projects often benefit from an integrated partnership, where creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community engagement, and platform strategy are tightly interwoven. "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 mission, according to Xue, is to meet each project where it stands and shape the partnership around what will be most useful for the developer.
The guiding belief is that games have the power to connect people through shared emotional experiences and to bring out the best in humanity. This philosophy has guided Thatgamecompany's own portfolio—from the meditative flow of Flow, through the poetic bloom of Flower, the transcendent pilgrimage of Journey, to the communal sky‑borne adventure of Sky: Children of the Light. Chen concluded by noting that while Thatgamecompany's own titles have demonstrated the potential of emotionally driven games, the studio recognizes that the landscape is far larger than a single studio's output.
"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 said. "Our experience running Sky as an emotional live‑service game—with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—has taught us how deeply felt experiences can reach broad audiences without losing their meaning. By understanding each game's emotional truth, building from its community, and allowing genuine resonance to scale over time, we aim to help every project reach farther while staying true to the feeling at its heart."