Technical Game Designer

Journey studio Thatgamecompany launches Thatgamepublisher to champion games that "move people through play" Buoyed by the success of Sky: Children of the Light, the company is looking to fund emotionally ambitious projects up to AA budgets Published on Aug 25, 2026, 6:00 AM PDT Thatgamecompany, the studio behind Flow, Flower, Journey, and Sky: Children of the Light, has launched a publishing arm. Thatgamepublisher is part of an ongoing trend, where indie studios with a mega hit behind them branch out into publishing or funding to champion other indie titles. Innersloth, the studio behind Among Us, launched Outersloth in 2024, backing titles like Clickolding and The Horror at Highrook, while earlier this year, Phasmophobia developer Kinetic Games launched Kinetic Publishing, with a roster of titles that includes Precognition, the latest game from Immortality creator Sam Barlow. Palworld maker Pocketpair has launched Pocketpair Publishing, Peak developer Landfall Games has launched the publishing label Evil Landfall... the list goes on. "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, the 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." Thatgamecompany certainly didn't have an overflow of cash back when Journey was released in 2012. As Chen explained to GamesIndustry.biz earlier this year, making Journey almost bankrupted the studio, and led to "everyone" being laid off. But things have changed a lot since then. Sky: Children of the Light, released in 2019, has been incredibly successful, particularly in China, and there's even a film based on the game. Now, Thatgamecompany is in a position to be able to invest the profits from Sky in what it describes as "emotionally ambitious games." Power shift. Other things have changed, too. Chen says that back when Journey was released, the distribution network was owned by companies like PlayStation. "But today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers." He says that a successful indie title could have millions of players, who are "your strongest distribution." "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." Thatgamecompany has another point of differentiation: "We have a much bigger female audience reach than most of the game companies in the world," says Chen, adding that roughly 70% of Sky's players are female. "And 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." Chen says Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of games, although the company is not revealing them just yet. In a press release statement, Chen outlined the vision for the publisher: "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, head of corporate development at Thatgamecompany and leader of the publishing initiative, tells GamesIndustry.biz that the firm is looking for titles that "move people through play." "The typical genre or platform restrictions would not apply to us," he says. "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." "'Emotional' can mean many things," he continues. "It can be joyful, chaotic, even funny. The through line is always, will this stay with someone after the screen goes dark? If a game is chasing that, we want to have the conversation." Bigger budgets. Many indie publishers are mostly looking to fund smaller titles, with budgets of below $1 million. But Thatgamepublisher is willing to push the boat out on bigger projects. "We are quite flexible when it comes to funding and project scale," says Xue. "We are open to working with everyone from solo developers with immense creativity to larger teams with AA-level budgets." Xue says that the terms of the publishing deal, regarding points like the percentage of recoup, will vary depending on the needs of each project. "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," he says. It's notable that Thatgamepublisher is launching as a full-service publisher, providing funding, production planning, platform and launch strategy, marketing, community management, and long-term IP development. Other indie publishers, like Outersloth and Evil Landfall, have embraced a funding-only model, and the trend in publishing more widely is to adopt a modular approach. Luke Keighran, founder of Silver Lining Interactive, told GamesIndustry.biz earlier this year that "the old school publishing model is dead," and that the new model is more about developers choosing which services they require, whether it's marketing, help with console conversions, access to funding, or all of the above. "We are open to working with everyone from solo developers with immense creativity to larger teams with AA-level budgets" Xue says Thatgamepublisher can be "flexible depending on what a developer and project needs, including more modular arrangements around areas such as funding, marketing, or other specific support." "That being said, we believe the kinds of games we want to work with often benefit from a more integrated partnership," he continues. "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." "Ultimately, we want to meet each project where it is and shape the partnership around what will be most useful to the developer." Emotional connection. In terms of why developers should sign with Thatgamepublisher, Xue points towards the company's founding philosophy: that "games can connect people through shared emotional experiences and bring out the best in us." "That belief has shaped everything Thatgamecompany has made," he says, "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. "We learned from our own work that emotionally ambitious games often need a different playbook. The heart of a project is not always easy to define at the beginning. It can emerge through prototypes, iteration, quiet discoveries, and the right creative conversations. 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. "Thatgamepublisher brings that creative perspective together with the resources, infrastructure, and care of a full-service publisher. Our experience operating Sky: Children of the Light as an emotional live-service game with more than 300 million downloads and seven years of global operations has taught us how deeply felt experiences can reach broad audiences without losing what makes them meaningful. "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."

Thatgamecompany unveils 245-page art book for Sky: Children of the Light. * Posted byby Dean Takahashi * June 1, 2026 * 3 min Become a member of GB MAX to gain exclusive access to the industry and to the most influential global B2B leadership community in the business of gaming, entertainment, and tech. Join now and also get a VIP ticket to GamesBeat Next (Nov 2-3, SF). Thatgamecompany, the artistic studio behind the games Journey, Flower and flOw, and most recently Sky: Children of the Light, has launched a new Sky art book. Keep Watching The new title is The Art of Sky: Gratitude To Nesting (2019-2024). The new tome is the second installment and will feature 245-pages of never-before-seen materials. The Art of Sky: Gratitude To Nesting is available to pre-order starting today and it officially releases in Summer 2026 ($100 + S/H). Each chapter will explore the project's origin, creative process, challenges, and the surprises the team encountered along the way. With the trusted collaboration of season designers, artists, and engineers, the book explores the adventurous studio approach that shaped the first five years of development of the stunning Sky kingdom. The Art of Sky: Gratitude to Nesting is co-authored by narrative writer Jennie Kong and visual development lead Yuichiro Tanabe, both longtime Thatgamecompany team members and the minds behind the original The Art of Sky book. The new book also dives into multiple of the game's most successful season events, including collaborations with legendary vocalist Aurora, the classic novella "The Little Prince," the fan-favorite "Season of Prophecy" and more. Last but not least, the immensely passionate Sky fanbase is celebrated in a chapter dedicated to annual events in-game and in Sky Anniversaries, illustrating with ease how the game achieved more than 300 million downloads to date. "The evolution of Sky since its launch in 2019 has been an absolute wonder, and we are honored to celebrate with our community and team through the second installment of The Art of Sky," said Cecil Kim, Art Director of Thatgamecompany, in a statement. "This new art book captures the artistic, design, and narrative exploration of five years of adventure seasons, world expansions, collaborations, and events. Fans who joined during a season will be excited to discover all of the unpublished artworks behind it; as our developer stories will bring them closer to the heartbeat of our creative process." As an added bonus, every copy of The Art of Sky: Gratitude to Nesting is embedded with a special STAR chip, which can be scanned with compatible iPhone and Android devices to unlock the in-game book accessory and additional new content. By placing the book in the eight different adventure season's space, players can explore the various concept art and hear the audio reflections from the artists who brought each vision to life. Players can also check out the first book in the series, the 260-page The Art of Sky. Published in 2024, the first art book explores the seven years thatgamecompany dedicated to development before initially announcing the game, including early concept art and more. Sky: Children of the Light is the award-winning social MMO. Originally launched in 2019, Sky has gone on to reach more than 300 million downloads as of May 2026, break the Guinness World Record for "Most Users in a Concert Themed Virtual World," and earn Apple's iPhone Game of the Year award (2019), 'Best Mobile Game' and 'Audience Award' at the 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards, and 'Mobile Game of the Year' at the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards. Sky also represents a culmination of transmedia storytelling thatgamecompany has committed to over the past decade, supporting the IP as a universe for emotionally impactful storytelling. The studio released the feature-length animated film Sky: The Two Embers - Part One in 2025, wordlessly telling the origin story of the Sky world, debuting it in select theaters and a special in-game screening. Sky also hosts an annual Creator Awards ceremony celebrating the best art and storytelling from a dedicated and passionate player community. Skyis available to play via iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam. Since its founding in 2006, thatgamecompany has been committed to developing broadly accessible, artistic, emotional, and enriching experiences that inspire human connection between all ages and cultures. The studio's work is now featured in the Smithsonian permanent collection and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, along with countless awards and nominations from industry groups. Led by co-founder and game director Jenova Chen, Thatgamecompany is currently supporting its latest title, Sky: Children of the Light, which broke the Guinness World Record for "most users in a concert-themed virtual world" and achieved over 300 million downloads since its launch in 2019. Chen recently spoke on a panel on a code of ethics for games at our GamesBeat Summit 2026 event.