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 in the indie sector where studios that achieve breakout success leverage their financial windfall to support and elevate other independent developers. Recent examples include Innersloth’s Outersloth, which backed games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games’ Kinetic Publishing, home to projects such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair’s Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games’ Evil Landfall label.
The trend reflects a broader shift: successful indie creators are turning into patrons of the medium they helped popularize. Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany, explains the rationale behind the transition.
“When an indie title breaks out, it’s often built on a shoestring budget. Suddenly you have excess cash, but you don’t want to balloon into a massive corporation. The logical place to invest that capital is in something you understand—other indie games.” Chen notes that this mindset is shared across the industry, leading many small studios to explore publishing as a natural extension of their work.
The financial landscape was dramatically different when Journey launched in 2012. Chen recalled to GamesIndustry.biz that the project nearly drove the studio to bankruptcy, resulting in a wave of layoffs. Fast forward to the present, 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 sustained revenue from Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the means to allocate funds toward what it terms “emotionally ambitious” games. Distribution channels have also evolved. In the early 2010s, platforms like PlayStation controlled the pipeline for indie releases.
Today, Chen argues, “the distribution network belongs to the players themselves—social influencers, streamers, and community leaders.” A successful indie title can amass millions of dedicated fans who effectively become its own marketing engine, surpassing traditional outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam in reach. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany lies in its audience demographics. Roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a uniquely balanced gender appeal.
Chen believes that promoting games that resonate with both men and women can unlock a “very unique overlap” of users, many of whom are newcomers to gaming. While the specific titles in Thatgamepublisher’s initial slate remain under wraps, Chen shared the publisher’s guiding philosophy in a press release: “When we first began making games, many questioned whether interactive experiences could move players as deeply 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 studio seeks.
He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are not primary concerns; instead, the focus is on whether a game can reach “meaningful emotional territory” and linger in a player’s mind after the console is turned off. “Emotional” can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or any feeling that leaves a lasting impression. Unlike many indie publishers that restrict themselves to sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger endeavors.
Xue clarified that the division is “quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale,” welcoming solo creators with big ideas as well as teams working on AA‑level productions. Contract terms, including revenue splits and recoupment percentages, will be tailored to each project’s needs, reflecting the studio’s own experience as developers who value transparent, fair partnerships. 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 contrasts with publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often adopt a modular, funding‑only approach.
Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive recently remarked that “the old school publishing model is dead,” highlighting a shift toward customizable service bundles where developers pick the support they require. Xue reiterated this modular flexibility, stating that Thatgamepublisher can adapt its involvement—from pure financing to comprehensive support across development, marketing, and launch.
However, he also noted that emotionally driven projects often benefit from an integrated partnership, where creative development, production, positioning, and community engagement are tightly interwoven. By staying involved across these facets, the publisher aims to protect the emotional core of each game and guide it from concept to player. The overarching motivation for developers to join Thatgamepublisher, according to Xue, stems from the studio’s founding belief that games can forge deep, shared emotional experiences.
He pointed to the studio’s own catalogue—Flow, Flower, Journey, and Sky—as proof of this philosophy in action. Yet he acknowledges that the emotional ambitions of tomorrow’s creators may require a different playbook. “The heart of a project often emerges through prototypes, iteration, quiet discoveries, and the right conversations,” he said. “Our role is to safeguard that process, providing room, guidance, and alignment so developers can uncover the strongest version of their work.” Drawing on the operational expertise gained from running Sky: Children of the Light—a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global support—Thatgamepublisher believes it can help emotionally resonant games achieve scale without diluting their core feeling.
By understanding each game’s emotional truth, building on its community, and allowing genuine resonance to drive growth, the publisher aims to amplify reach while staying true to the essence that makes each experience unique. In summary, Thatgamecompany’s launch of Thatgamepublisher marks a strategic expansion from creating singular artistic experiences to fostering a broader ecosystem of emotionally rich indie games. Leveraging financial success, a balanced player demographic, and a deep appreciation for the power of interactive storytelling, the new publishing arm seeks to empower creators worldwide, offering flexible, developer‑friendly deals and comprehensive support to bring heartfelt visions to life.