Journey studio Thatgamecompany has launched a publishing arm: Thatgamepublisher
“Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers,” said Jenova Chen
The studio behind Journey, Flow, Flower, and Sky: Children of the Light; Thatgamecompany, has announced Thatgamepublisher, a publishing arm of the acclaimed indie developer.
Thatgamecompany joins several other developers that have moved into publishing in recent years. In 2025, following the enormous success of Palworld, which was played by more than 32 million players in its first year, Pocketpair announced a publishing arm.
“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,” explained Jenova Chen, the co-founder of Thatgamecompany, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz.
“But then you are a small team [making] games, you don’t want to suddenly become a thousand-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 in other indie games is a natural choice for everyone, and that’s why many indie companies are doing that.”
Jenova Chen goes on to reflect how things have changed from a publishing perspective since Thatgamecompany published its most acclaimed game, Journey.
“Today, the distribution network is owned by the players, who are influencers,” he said.
“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.”
According to Chen, a “couple” of games have been signed by the company already, though details of those games weren’t shared.
Chen went on to outline his goal for Thatgamepublisher, saying, “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.”
