thatgamecompany

thatgamecompany is an independent video game developer and publisher founded in 2006 by Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago. The studio was created to explore games as an artistic and communicative medium, with a focus on experiences that evoke peacefulness, wonder, loneliness, and mutual altruism rather than conventional combat.

Its early partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment America produced a trilogy of downloadable PlayStation titles: flOw, Flower, and Journey. These projects established the studio's approach to accessible interaction, stylized visual storytelling, atmospheric lighting, and emotionally driven design. After completing the Sony agreement, the company became a fully independent developer and publisher.

Games and capabilities

thatgamecompany develops social and cooperative games built around intuitive controls, minimalist interfaces, non-verbal interaction, responsive audio, and orchestral scoring. Its capabilities include:

• Full-cycle game design and proprietary engine development
• Stylized 3D art direction, environmental storytelling, and lighting
• Cooperative multiplayer and social-experience systems
• Live-service operations, community events, and ongoing content updates
• Multiplatform porting, cross-play, and cross-progression management

The studio's flagship live-service game, Sky: Children of the Light, launched in 2019 and has expanded across mobile, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and PC. It extends the company's interest in shared, non-verbal social play through a continuing world of collaborative exploration and community events.

In 2026, thatgamecompany launched thatgamepublisher, an internal publishing label supporting emotionally ambitious AA games from independent development teams. The initiative adds publishing, production support, and marketing to the company's broader game-development practice while retaining its emphasis on work designed to move people through play.