Thatgamecompany, the acclaimed creator of titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the widely celebrated 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 achieved a breakout hit leverage their newfound resources to nurture other independent developers. Recent examples include Innersloth, the team behind the viral sensation Among Us, which launched Outersloth in 2024 to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, the developers of Phasmophobia, which started Kinetic Publishing and now supports projects such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, known for Peak, which created the Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a desire among small studios to reinvest excess capital into projects that share their creative values.
"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," explained 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." When Journey launched in 2012, Thatgamecompany was far from flush with cash.
Chen has recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the development of Journey nearly drove the studio to insolvency, resulting in a mass layoff of staff. The situation is dramatically different today.
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 now gives Thatgamecompany the financial bandwidth to fund what it describes as "emotionally ambitious" games, with budgets that can stretch into the AA range. Chen also notes a shift in how games reach players.
In the era of Journey, distribution channels were dominated by platform holders such as Sony. "Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he said. A successful indie title can amass millions of dedicated fans, who become the most effective promotional engine. "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." Another distinguishing factor for Thatgamecompany is its audience demographic. Chen points out that roughly 70 % of Sky's player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender reach than many of its peers.
"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 added. Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though the titles 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 leader of the publishing initiative, told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is hunting for titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size will not be limiting factors. "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 explained that "emotional" can encompass a wide spectrum—joy, chaos, humor—so long as the experience lingers after the console is turned off. "If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation," he added.
While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger endeavors. "We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," Xue remarked.
"We are open to working with everyone from solo developers with immense creativity to larger teams with AA‑level budgets." The specifics of each publishing deal, including revenue splits and recoup terms, will be tailored to the individual project's needs. Xue highlighted the studio's empathy as a developer: "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." Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering financing, production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This comprehensive approach contrasts with other indie publishers such as Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often provide only funding. The industry is moving toward modular publishing models, where developers can pick and choose services.
Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, told GamesIndustry.biz that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that flexibility is now the norm. Xue confirmed that Thatgamepublisher can adopt modular arrangements when appropriate, but believes that emotionally ambitious projects often thrive under an integrated partnership. "For emotionally ambitious projects, creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are often deeply interconnected. 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 collaboration around what will be most useful for the developer. The core belief driving the initiative is that games have the power to forge shared emotional experiences 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, one that allows the heart of a project to emerge through prototypes, iteration, and quiet discovery. "Our role is to help protect that process, giving developers the room, guidance, and alignment they need to discover the strongest version of their work," Xue said. Drawing on its experience running Sky: Children of the Light—a live‑service title with over 300 million downloads and seven years of global operation—Thatgamepublisher believes it can scale 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.