Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and Sky: Children of the Light, has announced the formation of a new publishing division named Thatgamepublisher. This move aligns with a growing pattern in the indie sector where studios that have scored a breakout hit expand into publishing or financing to nurture other independent developers. Recent examples include Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, which launched Outersloth in 2024 to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, the team behind Phasmophobia, which started Kinetic Publishing and is supporting projects such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, known for Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the studio behind Peak, which formed the Evil Landfall label.
The trend reflects a broader industry shift toward indie studios leveraging their success to become benefactors for peers. "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," explained 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." When Journey launched in 2012, Thatgamecompany was far from flush with cash. Chen has recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the development of Journey nearly drove the studio to bankruptcy and resulted in a mass layoff.
The situation has dramatically changed since the release of Sky: Children of the Light in 2019. The game has become a global phenomenon, especially in China, and has even inspired a film adaptation. The financial windfall from Sky now enables Thatgamecompany to allocate resources toward what it calls "emotionally ambitious games." Chen also points out that the distribution landscape has shifted.
In the era of Journey, platforms like PlayStation controlled the primary channels for reaching players. Today, "the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he says.
A successful indie title can amass millions of fans who become its most effective marketing engine. "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. Chen notes that roughly 70% of Sky's player base is female, giving the studio a larger female audience than most game companies worldwide. "If we promote or feature a game that would be appealing to men and women equally, our audience is going to have a very unique overlap, because there are many of our players who have never played games before," he adds.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though details remain under wraps. In the launch announcement, 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 head of the publishing effort, told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is seeking titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that the publisher will not be constrained by genre, platform, or size. "The typical genre or platform restrictions would not apply to us," Xue said. "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 elaborated on the definition of "emotional," noting it can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or any feeling that lingers after the screen goes dark.
"If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation," he added. While many indie publishers focus on sub‑$1 million budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑level 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 and recoup structures. Xue stressed 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.
Unlike some indie publishers that limit themselves to financing, Thatgamepublisher is positioning itself as a full‑service operation. It will offer funding, production planning, platform and launch strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This comprehensive approach contrasts with the modular models adopted by Outersloth or Evil Landfall, where developers pick and choose specific services.
Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, remarked earlier that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that modern publishers must provide flexible, à la carte options. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can adapt its involvement based on a developer's requirements, offering modular arrangements for funding, marketing, or other support.
However, for projects with an emotional ambition, he believes an integrated partnership yields the greatest benefit. "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 rationale for developers to join Thatgamepublisher, according to Xue, lies in the studio's founding belief that games can forge deep emotional connections and bring out the best in people.
"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 added that emotionally ambitious games often require a different development playbook, one that allows the core feeling to emerge through iteration, prototyping, and creative dialogue.
"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," Xue explained. 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 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.