Thatgamecompany, the acclaimed creator of 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 leverage their newfound resources to support other independent developers.
Examples of this trend include Innersloth, the team behind Among Us, which launched Outersloth in 2024 to fund games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, which started Kinetic Publishing and now backs projects such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, which created Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the makers of Peak, which introduced the Evil Landfall label. The industry is seeing an increasing number of small studios transition into hybrid roles of creator and publisher. Jenova Chen, co‑founder of Thatgamecompany, explains the motivation behind the shift: "Successful indie games are often built on very tight budgets, and when one of those games becomes a hit, the studio suddenly has a surplus of cash. Yet the team remains small and doesn’t want to balloon into a massive operation.
The logical place to invest that extra capital is in projects we understand and are passionate about – other indie games. That’s why many indie studios are moving into publishing." The financial picture was very different when Journey launched in 2012.
Chen has recounted that the development of Journey nearly drove the studio to bankruptcy, resulting in a wave of layoffs. In contrast, Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has generated substantial revenue, especially in the Chinese market, and even inspired a feature film.
Those profits now give Thatgamecompany the ability to fund what it calls "emotionally ambitious" games. Chen also notes a fundamental change in how games reach players. In the early 2010s, distribution channels were largely controlled by platform holders such as Sony.
Today, however, distribution is driven by the community itself—players, streamers, and influencers act as the primary channels for discovery. "A successful indie title can amass millions of fans who become its most effective distributors," Chen says. "When an audience loves a particular style of game, they actively seek out similar experiences, often more effectively than traditional media outlets." Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach.
Roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender balance than many of its peers. "If we highlight a game that appeals to both men and women, we can tap into a unique overlap of players, many of whom may be new to gaming altogether," Chen adds.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a handful of projects, though details remain under wraps. In the official announcement, Chen outlined the publisher’s philosophy: "When we first started making games, many doubted whether interactive experiences could move people as profoundly as film, literature, or music.
Over the years, we’ve seen games forge lifelong friendships, help people work through personal challenges, reconnect loved ones, and restore hope. Those moments convinced us that games can touch lives in deep, meaningful ways.
Thatgamepublisher exists to support creators worldwide who are exploring new emotional frontiers in the medium." SJ Xue, Thatgamecompany’s vice‑president of growth and corporate development and the lead for the publishing initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is searching for titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that the publisher will not be limited by genre, platform, or project size. "We’re open to any team, at any stage of development, even prototypes. What matters is whether the game reaches for meaningful emotional territory and uses interactivity to guide players there." Xue elaborates that "emotional" can encompass a wide spectrum—joy, chaos, humor, melancholy—as long as the experience lingers after the console is turned off. He adds that while many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑level projects.
"We’re flexible with funding and scale. Whether it’s a solo developer with a brilliant concept or a larger studio with a more substantial budget, we want to help them realize their vision." The terms of each publishing deal will be customized. Xue explains that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly agreements.
Thatgamepublisher aims to provide a full suite of services, including financing, 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 of Silver Lining Interactive remarked earlier that "the old‑school publishing model is dead," and developers now choose the specific services they need—be it marketing, console porting, or funding.
Thatgamepublisher can therefore tailor its involvement, offering modular support where appropriate, but Xue believes that emotionally ambitious projects often benefit from an integrated partnership. By staying involved across creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community engagement, and platform strategy, the publisher can protect the game's emotional core and guide it from concept to player. The overarching rationale for developers to partner with Thatgamepublisher lies in the studio’s founding belief: games have the power to connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in humanity. This ethos has shaped every title Thatgamecompany has released, from the meditative Flow to the heartfelt Journey.
Chen notes that while the studio’s own games have demonstrated the potential of emotionally driven design, the landscape is now populated by creators worldwide who are pushing those boundaries. "Our role is to safeguard the discovery process—allowing prototypes, iteration, quiet breakthroughs, and creative conversations to surface the strongest version of a game," Xue says. 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, Thatgamepublisher believes it can help other studios scale without diluting the emotional resonance of their work. By understanding each game's emotional truth, nurturing its community, and letting genuine resonance drive growth, the publisher aims to amplify reach while staying true to the feeling at the heart of each experience.
In summary, Thatgamepublisher represents Thatgamecompany’s evolution from a singular indie studio into a full‑service publisher dedicated to nurturing games that aspire to move players on a deep, emotional level. With flexible funding, a commitment to fair partnerships, and a proven track record of creating emotionally resonant experiences, the new label is poised to become a significant force in supporting the next generation of heartfelt interactive art.