Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the widely celebrated 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 scored a breakout hit leverage their financial windfall to support other developers. Recent examples include Innersloth, the makers of Among Us, which started Outersloth in 2024 to fund games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, the studio behind Phasmophobia, which launched Kinetic Publishing and now backs projects such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, known for Palworld, which has opened Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the creators of Peak, which introduced the Evil Landfall label.
The trend reflects a desire among small teams to reinvest success back into the indie 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‑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, the studio was far from flush with cash. Chen has recounted to GamesIndustry.biz that the development of Journey nearly pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy and resulted in a wave of layoffs.
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 has even inspired a feature film.
The revenue generated by Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the financial muscle to fund what it calls "emotionally ambitious games" with budgets that can reach AA scale. Chen also notes a shift in how games reach audiences. In the era of Journey, 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 hit indie title can amass millions of players who act as organic promoters, providing a distribution reach that can outstrip traditional media outlets like GameSpot, IGN, or even Steam.
"You have an audience who love a certain style of game and they're looking for more of it. You actually have more influence for distribution than the big outlets," Chen adds. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic profile.
Roughly 70% of Sky's player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender reach than many competitors. "If we promote a game that appeals to both men and women, our audience will have a unique overlap, because many of our players have never played games before," Chen explains. This diverse audience could be a powerful platform for new titles that aim to resonate across gender lines.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects, though details remain under wraps. In the launch announcement, 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 effort, told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is searching for titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are not primary filters. "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 said. He further clarified that "emotional" can encompass a wide spectrum—joy, chaos, humor—as long as the experience lingers after the console is turned off. This focus on lasting impact guides the publisher's selection criteria. While many indie publishers limit themselves to sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger endeavors.
"We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," Xue noted. "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, such as revenue share and recoup terms, will be tailored to the individual project's needs.
Xue stressed that, as developers themselves, the team understands the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly partnerships that provide the resources necessary to realize a game's full potential. Unlike some indie publishers that operate on a funding‑only basis, Thatgamepublisher is launching as a full‑service operation. It will offer financing, production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development.
This comprehensive approach mirrors a broader industry shift toward modular publishing models, where developers can pick and choose the services they require. Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive described the old publishing model as dead, noting that modern developers prefer flexible arrangements that may include just marketing or console conversion support, rather than an all‑or‑nothing contract. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can adapt its involvement to match a developer's specific needs, whether that means a modular package focused on funding or a deeper integrated partnership covering creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community building, and platform strategy. He believes that emotionally ambitious projects benefit from such an integrated approach because the various elements of a game's launch are tightly interwoven.
Ultimately, the publisher aims to meet each project where it stands and shape the partnership around what will be most useful to the developer. The underlying belief driving this effort is that games have the power to connect people through shared emotional experiences and to bring out the best in humanity. Chen summed it up: "That belief has shaped everything Thatgamecompany has made, from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky. We know the path is bigger than a single studio.
Creators worldwide are exploring new emotional frontiers, and we want to help those ideas reach 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 hope to help each project scale while staying true to its emotional core."