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 reflects a growing pattern in the independent game sector where studios that have achieved breakout success leverage their newfound resources to support other 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 now handling 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 illustrates how indie studios, after scoring a major hit, often look for ways to reinvest their profits into the broader ecosystem.
"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." The financial landscape was dramatically different when Journey launched in 2012. Chen has recounted that the project nearly bankrupted the studio and forced a large portion of the staff to be let go. In contrast, 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 sustained revenue stream from Sky now enables Thatgamecompany to allocate funds toward what they term "emotionally ambitious" games—titles that aim to provoke deep feeling and personal reflection. Chen also points out a shift in how games reach audiences. In the early 2010s, distribution channels were dominated by platform holders such as Sony.
Today, the distribution network is effectively owned by the players themselves, who act as influencers and community builders. "A successful indie title could have millions of players, who are your strongest distribution," he says.
"You have an audience who love a certain style of game, and they will seek out similar experiences. That gives indie studios a distribution reach that can rival traditional media outlets." Another unique 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 promote a game that appeals to both men and women, our audience will have a very unique overlap," Chen notes, adding that many of their players are newcomers to gaming, which expands the potential market for emotionally resonant experiences.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a handful of projects, though the titles remain under wraps. In the official press release, 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, vice president of growth and corporate development at Thatgamecompany and the lead of the publishing initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is searching for 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. He further clarified what "emotional" means in this context: "It can be 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 prepared to support larger, AA‑level projects. Xue said the publisher's funding model is flexible, ranging from solo developers with visionary concepts to established teams needing substantial resources. The terms of each deal—such as revenue share and recoupment percentages—will be customized to suit the specific needs of the project, reflecting the studio's own experience as developers who value fairness, transparency, and partnership.
Thatgamepublisher distinguishes itself by offering a full‑service publishing package. This includes not only financing but also production planning, platform strategy, launch coordination, marketing, community management, and long‑term intellectual‑property development. Other indie publishers, like Outersloth and Evil Landfall, often adopt a more modular, funding‑only approach. Industry observers note that the traditional, monolithic publishing model is giving way to a flexible, à‑la‑carte system where developers can pick and choose the services they require.
Xue reiterated that the publisher can adapt its involvement based on each project's needs, providing modular options for funding, marketing, or other specific support. However, he also highlighted that emotionally ambitious games often benefit from an integrated partnership, where creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community building, and platform strategy are tightly interwoven. "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 mission of Thatgamepublisher, according to Xue, is to help developers create experiences that foster shared emotional connections. "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 affirmed. He added that emotionally ambitious projects often follow a non‑linear development path, emerging through prototypes, iteration, and quiet discovery.
The publisher's role is to safeguard that creative process, offering resources, guidance, and alignment without stifling the organic evolution of the game's heart. Drawing on its own 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 has a proven formula for scaling 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. In summary, Thatgamepublisher represents a new chapter for Thatgamecompany, shifting from a singular studio to a supportive hub for indie creators who share a passion for games that move people on a deep, emotional level. The initiative promises flexible financing, comprehensive publishing services, and a philosophy rooted in the belief that interactive experiences can be as moving and transformative as any other art form.