Thatgamecompany, the creative force behind acclaimed titles such as Flow, Flower, Journey, and the recent hit Sky: Children of the Light, has announced the formation of a new publishing division named Thatgamepublisher. This move mirrors a growing pattern in the independent game sector where studios that have achieved breakout success leverage their newfound resources to nurture and fund other indie projects.
Recent examples include Innersloth, the creators of 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 is now supporting titles such as Precognition from Sam Barlow; Pocketpair, the team behind Palworld, which introduced Pocketpair Publishing; and Landfall Games, the studio behind Peak, which rolled out the Evil Landfall label. The trend reflects a broader shift toward studios becoming publishers as a natural extension of their success. "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." The financial reality was stark when Journey launched in 2012.
Chen has recounted that the game's development nearly bankrupted the studio and resulted in a wave of layoffs. Fast forward to 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. The sustained revenue from Sky now gives Thatgamecompany the capacity to allocate profits toward what Chen describes as "emotionally ambitious games." Chen also notes a fundamental change in how games reach audiences. In the early 2010s, distribution channels were dominated by platform holders like Sony.
"Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers," he says. A successful indie title can amass millions of players who act as organic promoters, providing a distribution muscle that rivals traditional media outlets. This shift empowers indie studios to act as publishers because they already possess a built‑in audience that can amplify new releases. Another distinctive asset for Thatgamecompany is its demographic reach.
"We have a much bigger female audience reach than most of the game companies in the world," Chen points out, citing that roughly 70% of Sky's player base is female. This gender‑balanced community offers a unique platform for games that aim to appeal to both men and women, especially those that attract newcomers to gaming.
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a handful 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 head of the publishing effort, told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio is hunting for titles that "move people through play." He emphasized that genre, platform, or team size are secondary to the emotional resonance of a game. "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 clarified that "emotional" can encompass joy, chaos, humor, or melancholy, as long as the experience lingers after the console is turned off.
This criterion guides their selection process more than any budgetary ceiling. While many indie publishers focus on sub‑million‑dollar projects, Thatgamepublisher is prepared to back larger, AA‑level endeavors. "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 publishing agreements will be tailored to each project's needs. Xue stressed that, as developers themselves, they understand the importance of fair, transparent, and developer‑friendly terms. Thatgamepublisher aims to act as a full‑service partner, offering financing, production planning, launch strategy, marketing, community management, and long‑term IP development.
This contrasts with other indie publishers that often provide only funding or adopt a modular service model. Luke Keighran of Silver Lining Interactive has observed that "the old school publishing model is dead," and developers now pick and choose the services they require. Thatgamepublisher can therefore offer modular arrangements, but Xue believes that emotionally ambitious projects benefit from a more integrated partnership.
By staying involved across creative development, production, positioning, marketing, community engagement, and platform strategy, the publisher can protect the game's emotional core and guide it to a broader audience without diluting its intent. In summary, Thatgamepublisher is built on the belief that games can forge deep emotional connections and bring out the best in people.
This ethos has shaped Thatgamecompany's own catalog—from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky. The new publishing arm seeks to extend that philosophy to creators worldwide, providing the resources, expertise, and supportive environment needed to turn emotionally resonant visions into games that linger in players' hearts long after the screen goes dark.