Journey Studio Thatgamecompany Launches Publishing Arm, Thatgamepublisher
Thatgamecompany, the independent studio behind Journey, Flower, and Sky: Children of the Light, has launched a publishing arm called Thatgamepublisher. The announcement was made on 25 August 2026, with co-founder Jenova Chen detailing the plans in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. VGC
A publisher, in games-industry terms, is the company that handles the business side of bringing a game to market — funding, marketing, distribution, and platform relationships — so that a development studio can focus on making the game itself. By creating Thatgamepublisher, thatgamecompany is stepping into that role for other independent developers.
Chen's reasoning is practical. Successful indie games, he said, typically run on a shoestring budget. When a small game becomes a hit, the studio behind it suddenly has more cash than it knows what to do with — but a small team does not want to balloon into a thousand-person company and cannot easily spend the surplus. Investing in other indie games, Chen argued, is a natural next step. VGC
He also pointed to a shift in how games reach players. The distribution network, Chen said, is now owned by players who are influencers — giving indie studios more reach than traditional games media outlets or even storefronts like Steam. VGC
Thatgamepublisher has already signed a "couple" of games, Chen confirmed, though no titles, studios, or release windows were shared. The new arm's stated mission is to support creators exploring new emotional frontiers for interactive entertainment — language that tracks with thatgamecompany's own description of itself as a studio "dedicated to creating timeless interactive entertainment that inspires human connection worldwide." thatgamecompany.com
The studio has been broadening its activities beyond development for some months. On 15 May 2026, it launched thatgamejam, a game jam — a timed competition where developers build small games around a theme — focused on creativity and emotion. thatgamecompany.com It is also opening a new office in the San Francisco Bay Area to support Sky: Children of the Light, its free-to-play social adventure game. GameDeveloper
Thatgamecompany's move into publishing mirrors a wider pattern. Pocketpair, the developer behind Palworld — played by more than 32 million people in its first year — announced its own publishing arm in 2025. VGC
For independent developers, a new publisher with first-hand experience of the creative side of game-making is another potential route to market. For players, the payoff will come down to what those signed games turn out to be — and whether they carry the emotional focus Chen has built his studio's name on.
