adminThatgamepublisher is the new publishing arm of Thatgamecompany, the studio behind Flow, Flower, Journey, and Sky: Children of the Light. Building on the success of Sky, the company plans to support games that create meaningful emotional experiences, with projects ranging from solo-developed ideas to productions with AA-level budgets.
Image credit: Thatgamecompany
Why Thatgamepublisher is launching now
Thatgamecompany co-founder Jenova Chen says successful independent studios often find themselves with more resources after a hit, while still wanting to remain relatively small. Supporting other independent teams can be a practical way to invest in an area the studio understands without dramatically expanding its own workforce.
This approach has become more common across the games industry. Innersloth, the studio behind Among Us, launched Outersloth in 2024. Other examples include Kinetic Publishing, Pocketpair Publishing, and Evil Landfall, established by studios behind Phasmophobia, Palworld, and Peak, respectively.
Thatgamecompany’s financial position has changed since Journey launched in 2012. Chen has said the game’s development came close to bankrupting the studio and resulted in widespread layoffs. The 2019 release of Sky: Children of the Light, which has been especially successful in China, helped create new opportunities for the company. A film based on Sky is also in development.
Image credit: Thatgamecompany
Thatgamepublisher sees players as part of distribution
Chen points to a shift in how games reach audiences. In the past, platform holders played a central role in distribution. Today, players and online creators can help a game find its audience by sharing it with communities that are already interested in similar experiences.
For developers, this means that an engaged player community can contribute to a game’s visibility. Thatgamecompany also brings an audience that Chen says is distinct from those of many game studios: roughly 70% of Sky players are female, and some have not played games before. That reach may help introduce new titles to people beyond traditional gaming audiences.
Image credit: Thatgamecompany
Chen says the publisher has already signed a couple of games, but their names have not yet been announced. The company’s broader aim is to help creators explore how interactive play can affect people, whether the result is joyful, funny, chaotic, or reflective.
Funding and publishing support for different-sized teams
Unlike publishers focused mainly on smaller projects with budgets below $1 million, Thatgamepublisher says it is open to a wider range of production scales. SJ Xue, Thatgamecompany’s vice president of growth and corporate development and the publishing initiative’s lead, says the company will consider teams of different sizes, projects at various stages, and even early prototypes.
The central consideration is whether a game uses interactivity to create an experience that stays with players. That focus does not limit the publisher to a particular genre, platform, or format. Developers assessing a potential publishing partner should still discuss the project’s scope, timeline, funding requirements, and creative goals early in the process.
Image credit: Thatgamecompany
Deal terms, including how revenue is recouped, will vary according to each project’s needs. Xue says the goal is to build transparent, developer-friendly partnerships that give teams appropriate support.
Thatgamepublisher describes itself as a full-service publisher, offering potential assistance with funding, production planning, platform and launch strategy, marketing, community management, and long-term intellectual property development. It also says support can be arranged more selectively when a developer needs help with particular areas rather than a complete publishing package.
Supporting games built around emotional connection
Xue says the publisher’s approach follows a belief that games can bring people together through shared emotional experiences. That idea has shaped Thatgamecompany’s work, from Flow and Flower to Journey and Sky: Children of the Light.
According to Xue, emotionally ambitious projects may need room to develop their identity through prototypes, iteration, and creative discussion. The publisher aims to help developers protect the core idea of a game while working through production, audience positioning, marketing, community building, and platform strategy.
Sky: Children of the Light has been downloaded more than 300 million times, and Thatgamecompany says seven years of operating the game globally have given it experience reaching a broad audience with an emotionally driven title.
Image credit: Thatgamecompany
Dear Van Gogh, released in July, is a game-within-a-game set in Sky: Children of the Light.
What Thatgamepublisher’s launch means for developers
For independent developers, Thatgamepublisher offers another potential route to funding and publishing support, including for projects larger than the budgets many indie-focused publishers typically pursue. Its stated priorities are creative flexibility, adaptable partnership terms, and games with a strong emotional purpose.
Teams considering the publisher should clarify which services they need and how creative decisions, funding, marketing, and revenue recoupment would be handled. Ultimately, Thatgamepublisher’s defining goal is to help developers bring games to players that can move people through play.
