Thatgamecompany, the acclaimed creator behind 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 follows a growing pattern among successful independent studios that, after scoring a breakout title, branch out into publishing or funding to nurture other indie projects. Recent examples include Innersloth, the team behind Among Us, which launched Outersloth in 2024 to back games like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook; Kinetic Games, known for Phasmophobia, which started Kinetic Publishing and now supports titles such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the studio behind Peak, which created the Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a desire among small studios to reinvest unexpected profits into the broader 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‑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 that the project's development nearly bankrupted the studio and resulted in a mass layoff.
The situation has shifted dramatically thanks to Sky: Children of the Light, which debuted in 2019 and achieved massive commercial success, especially in the Chinese market, even spawning a film adaptation. The revenue generated by Sky now enables the studio to allocate funds toward what it calls "emotionally ambitious" games.
Chen also notes that the distribution landscape has transformed. In the early 2010s, platforms like PlayStation controlled the primary channels for indie releases. Today, however, "the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers." A popular indie title can reach millions of players organically, turning its community into a powerful marketing engine that can outweigh traditional media outlets such as GameSpot, IGN, or Steam.
This shift gives indie studios a compelling reason to become publishers themselves, leveraging their own audiences to amplify new releases. Another distinctive advantage for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach. Chen points out that roughly 70 % of Sky’s player base is female, giving the studio a broader gender balance 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," he says.
Although specific titles have not yet been disclosed, Chen confirmed that Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of projects. The publisher’s mission, outlined in a press release, emphasizes the belief that interactive experiences can move people as deeply as film, literature, or music. "Over the years, games have shown us what impact they can have on people—lifelong friendships, personal healing, reconnections, restored hope.
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," the statement reads. SJ Xue, Thatgamecompany’s vice‑president of growth and corporate development and the leader of the publishing effort, told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is looking for games that "move people through play." He stressed 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 impact can be joyful, chaotic, or even humorous, but the key question is whether the experience lingers after the console is turned off. While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar budgets, Thatgamepublisher is willing to support larger, AA‑level projects. Xue said the company’s funding model is flexible and can accommodate solo developers with groundbreaking concepts as well as larger teams with more substantial budgets.
The specifics of each deal—such as revenue share and recoupment terms—will be tailored to the needs of the individual project, reflecting the studio’s own experience as developers who value transparent, fair partnerships. Thatgamepublisher will operate as a full‑service publisher, offering not only capital but also production planning, platform strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development. This contrasts with publishers like Outersloth or Evil Landfall, which often adopt a funding‑only approach. The industry is moving toward modular publishing models where developers can pick and choose services.
Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive remarked that "the old school publishing model is dead" and that today developers decide which pieces—marketing, console ports, funding, or all of the above—they need. Xue reiterated that Thatgamepublisher can provide modular arrangements, but for projects with a strong emotional core, an integrated partnership is often more beneficial. "Creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community, and platform strategy are deeply interconnected for emotionally ambitious games. Being involved across those areas allows us to protect the emotional core of the game and help the team carry that vision all the way to players," he said.
Ultimately, the studio hopes to meet each project where it stands and shape the partnership around what will be most useful to the developer. The guiding philosophy remains that games can forge shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in people. Chen summed it up: "That belief has shaped everything Thatgamecompany has made, from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky.
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."