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 named Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern in the independent gaming sector where studios that have scored a breakout success leverage their newfound resources to become publishers or investors for other indie projects.
Recent examples include Innersloth’s Outersloth, which began supporting games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook in 2024, Kinetic Games’ Kinetic Publishing with titles such as Precognition, Pocketpair’s Pocketpair Publishing, and Landfall Games’ Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a broader shift: successful indie developers often find themselves with surplus capital after a hit, yet they prefer to stay small rather than expand into a massive corporation. As Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany, explains, "When an indie title breaks out, the cash flow can be overwhelming, but we don’t want to become a thousand‑person studio overnight. The logical place to invest that money is in other indie games that we understand and love." The financial landscape was dramatically different when Journey launched in 2012.
Chen has recounted that the development of Journey nearly bankrupted the studio, resulting in a wave of layoffs. In contrast, Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has generated massive revenue, especially in the Chinese market, and even inspired a feature film. Those profits now give Thatgamecompany the ability to back what it calls "emotionally ambitious" games—projects that aim to move players on a deeper, more personal level. Chen also notes a fundamental change in how games reach audiences.
In the early 2010s, distribution channels were dominated by platform holders like PlayStation. Today, the distribution network is effectively owned by the players themselves, who act as influencers and word‑of‑mouth marketers. A successful indie title can amass millions of dedicated fans who become the most powerful promotional engine, often outpacing traditional media outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam. "If your community loves a certain type of experience, they will actively seek out similar games," Chen says, emphasizing that this organic reach makes publishing a natural extension for indie studios.
Another distinguishing factor for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach. Approximately 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a uniquely balanced audience compared to many other developers.
Chen believes this diversity allows the publisher to champion games that appeal equally to men and women, and even to newcomers who have never played video games before. While the exact slate of titles under Thatgamepublisher remains under wraps, Chen has shared the publisher’s overarching mission.
In a press release, he wrote: "When we first began making games, many doubted whether interactive experiences could touch players as profoundly as film, literature, or music. Over the years, games have proven they can forge lifelong friendships, heal personal struggles, reconnect loved ones, and restore hope. Thatgamepublisher exists because we see countless creators exploring new emotional frontiers, 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, elaborated on the type of projects the new label seeks. He told GamesIndustry.biz that the primary criterion is not genre, platform, or budget size, but whether a game strives to reach meaningful emotional territory and can linger in a player’s mind after the console is turned off.
"Emotional" can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or melancholy; the key question is whether the experience stays with someone once the screen goes dark. Unlike many indie publishers that focus on sub‑million‑dollar projects, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑scale endeavors. Xue explained that the publisher’s funding model is flexible, accommodating solo developers with inventive concepts as well as larger teams needing more substantial budgets.
The specifics of each deal—such as revenue share and recoupment terms—will be tailored to the individual project's needs, reflecting the studio’s own experience as developers who value fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships. Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering not only financing but also production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development.
This comprehensive approach contrasts with other indie publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often provide only funding. The industry is moving toward modular publishing models, where developers can pick and choose services, but Xue believes that emotionally ambitious games benefit from a more integrated partnership.
By staying involved across creative development, production, positioning, and community outreach, the publisher can protect the emotional core of a title and help the team bring that vision to a wider audience. When asked why developers should consider signing with Thatgamepublisher, Xue pointed to the studio’s founding philosophy: games have the power to connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in humanity. He noted that this belief has guided every Thatgamecompany release—from the meditative flow of Flow to the tender narrative of Journey.
The publisher now aims to extend that ethos beyond its own studio, supporting creators worldwide who are pushing the boundaries of what games can feel like. Xue added that emotionally ambitious projects often require a different playbook.
The heart of such a game may not be evident at the outset; it can emerge through prototypes, iterative design, quiet discoveries, and thoughtful conversations. Thatgamepublisher’s role is to safeguard that process, providing developers with the space, guidance, and resources needed to uncover the strongest version of their work. Drawing on its experience 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 understands how to scale heartfelt experiences without diluting their impact.
By grounding each partnership in the emotional truth of the game, building community around it, and allowing genuine resonance to drive growth, Thatgamepublisher hopes to help every project reach a broader audience while staying true to the feelings at its core.