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 have achieved a breakout success leverage their newfound resources to back other independent developers.
In recent years, Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, launched Outersloth in 2024, supporting games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook. Earlier this year, Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, started Kinetic Publishing, adding titles such as Precognition from Sam Barlow’s Immortality team to its roster. Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, introduced Pocketpair Publishing, while Landfall Games, the team behind Peak, formed the Evil Landfall label.
The trend underscores a shift toward indie studios becoming both creators and curators. "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‑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 that the development of Journey nearly bankrupted the studio and resulted in a wave of layoffs.
The situation is dramatically different now. 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 provides Thatgamecompany with the financial flexibility to fund what it calls "emotionally ambitious games" at budgets that can reach AA levels. Chen also notes a fundamental change in how games reach players.
In the early 2010s, distribution channels were dominated by platform holders such as PlayStation. "Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he says.
A successful indie title can now amass millions of players who act as organic promoters, offering a distribution reach that rivals traditional media outlets like GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam. This democratization of distribution empowers indie studios to consider publishing as a viable extension of their business. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany lies in its audience demographics. "We have a much bigger female audience reach than most of the game companies in the world," Chen points out, noting that roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female.
This gender‑balanced community creates a unique overlap for titles that aim to appeal to both men and women, especially those who may be new to gaming. Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though details remain under wraps. In a 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, Thatgamecompany’s vice‑president of growth and corporate development and the head 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 added that "emotional" can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or any feeling that lingers after the screen goes dark.
While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar projects, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger ambitions. "We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," Xue said. "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 specific needs of the project.
Xue highlighted that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships. Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering financing, production planning, platform and launch strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This comprehensive approach differentiates it from publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often adopt a modular, funding‑only model. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, observed that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that modern developers prefer to pick and choose the services they need—whether that be marketing, console porting assistance, or full funding.
Xue echoed this sentiment, stating that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements but believes many emotionally driven projects benefit from an integrated partnership where creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are tightly aligned. Ultimately, the goal is to meet each project where it stands and shape the partnership around what will be most useful to the developer. Xue summed up the company’s guiding belief: "Games can connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in us.
That belief has shaped everything Thatgamecompany has made, from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky: Children of the Light. We 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 protecting the creative process, providing resources, and leveraging our experience running Sky as an emotional live‑service with over 300 million downloads, we aim to help each project reach farther while staying true to the feeling at its heart."