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 among independent studios that have scored breakout successes and are now branching out to support other developers. In recent years, Innersloth, the creators of Among Us, launched Outersloth in 2024 to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook.
Earlier this year, Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, started Kinetic Publishing, adding titles such as Precognition to its roster. Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, introduced Pocketpair Publishing, while Landfall Games, famous for Peak, formed the Evil Landfall label. The trend underscores a shift where indie studios, once limited by modest budgets, are leveraging newfound capital to become publishers and investors. "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." Thatgamecompany’s own history illustrates why the studio is uniquely positioned for this role.
When Journey launched in 2012, the project nearly drained the company’s finances, leading to a wave of layoffs. Chen has recounted that the experience was almost bankrupting.
However, the landscape shifted dramatically with the release of Sky: Children of the Light in 2019. The game not only achieved massive commercial success—particularly in the Chinese market—but also spawned a feature film adaptation. The revenue generated from Sky now provides Thatgamecompany with a solid financial base to back what it calls "emotionally ambitious games." Chen also points out a fundamental change in how games reach audiences.
In the era of Journey, distribution channels were dominated by platform holders like PlayStation. Today, Chen argues, the distribution network belongs to the players themselves, who act as influencers. A successful indie title can amass millions of players who become organic distributors, sharing the experience across social media, streaming platforms, and word‑of‑mouth. "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," he says. Another distinctive advantage Thatgamecompany brings to the publishing table 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.
While the roster of Thatgamepublisher’s first titles remains under wraps, the publisher’s mission statement, released in a press announcement, offers insight into its 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 leader of the publishing initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is searching for games that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are not primary concerns. "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 further clarified what "emotional" means to the publisher: it can be joyful, chaotic, even humorous, but the core question is whether the experience lingers after the screen goes dark. "If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation," he noted.
Unlike many indie publishers that focus on sub‑$1 million budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑level projects. "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 deal will be customized. Xue said the percentage of recoup and other financial details will be negotiated on a case‑by‑case basis, reflecting the studio’s own experience as developers.
"As developers ourselves, we understand how important it is to build partnerships that are fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly, while giving teams the support they need to realise the strongest version of their game," he said. Thatgamepublisher is launching as a full‑service publisher, offering not only funding but also production planning, platform and launch strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development.
This contrasts with some newer indie publishers, such as Outersloth and Evil Landfall, which have adopted a funding‑only model. The industry is moving toward modular publishing, where developers can pick and choose services they need. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, told GamesIndustry.biz that "the old school publishing model is dead," and the modern approach is more flexible. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can adapt its involvement based on a developer’s requirements, offering modular arrangements for funding, marketing, or other support.
However, he believes that emotionally ambitious projects often benefit from an integrated partnership, where creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are tightly aligned. "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. Ultimately, the publisher aims to meet each project where it stands and shape the partnership around the developer’s most pressing needs. The guiding philosophy is 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," Xue explained. He added that emotionally ambitious games often require a different playbook.
The heart of a project may not be evident at the outset; it can emerge through prototypes, iteration, quiet discoveries, and collaborative conversations. Thatgamepublisher’s role is to protect that creative process, providing space, guidance, and alignment so developers can uncover the strongest version of their work. Drawing on its experience running Sky: Children of the Light—a live‑service title with more than 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—Thatgamepublisher believes it understands how to scale deeply felt experiences without diluting their meaning. "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.