Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the recent hit Sky: Children of the Light, has announced the formation of a new publishing division called Thatgamepublisher. This move follows a growing pattern in the indie sector where studios that have scored a breakout success expand into publishing or funding to nurture other independent developers. In recent years, Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, introduced Outersloth in 2024 and have already backed games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook.
Earlier this year, Kinetic Games—known for Phasmophobia—started Kinetic Publishing, adding titles such as Precognition, the newest project from Sam Barlow, the mind behind Immortality. Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, has set up Pocketpair Publishing, while Landfall Games, famous for Peak, launched the Evil Landfall label. The trend is clear: successful indie studios are leveraging their newfound capital and industry insight to become patrons of the next generation of games.
"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 recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the development of Journey nearly bankrupted the studio and resulted in a wave of layoffs.
The situation is dramatically different today. Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has become a global phenomenon, especially in the Chinese market, and even inspired a feature‑film adaptation. The revenue generated by Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the financial freedom to fund what it calls "emotionally ambitious games"—projects that aim to move players on a deeper, more personal level. Chen also notes a shift in how games reach audiences.
In the era of Journey, distribution channels were largely controlled by platform holders like PlayStation. "Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he says.
A hit indie title can amass millions of players who become organic promoters, often eclipsing traditional media outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam in terms of reach. This democratized distribution model gives indie studios both the incentive and the means to act as publishers. Another distinctive asset for Thatgamecompany is its demographic profile. Roughly 70% of Sky's player base is female, giving the studio a larger female audience than most game companies worldwide.
"If we promote a game that appeals to both men and women, our audience overlap is unique because many of our players have never played games before," Chen adds. This broad, inclusive reach can be a powerful platform for titles that aim to resonate across gender lines.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a handful of projects, though details remain under wraps. In a 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 head of the publishing initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is seeking games that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are not primary criteria. "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—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 willing to support larger, AA‑level endeavors. Xue noted, "We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale.
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 deal will be tailored to the project's needs. Xue stressed that, as former developers, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships. Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering funding, production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development.
This 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 require. Xue affirmed that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements as well, but for emotionally ambitious projects, a more integrated partnership often yields the best results. "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. In summary, the philosophy driving Thatgamepublisher is rooted in the belief that games can forge shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in people. Chen reflected, "That belief has shaped everything Thatgamecompany has made, from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky.
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." By leveraging the operational expertise gained from running Sky: Children of the Light—now a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—Thatgamepublisher aims to guide developers through the delicate process of nurturing an emotional core while scaling a game to a broad audience. The ultimate goal is to ensure that each project reaches farther without sacrificing the feeling at its heart, allowing players worldwide to experience games that stay with them long after the screen goes dark.