Thatgamecompany

Thatgamecompany, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Video games
Founded	May 15, 2006 (2006-05-15)
Founder	Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jenova Chen (Co-founder), Kellee Santiago (Co-founder, former president and producer)
Products	Flow, Flower, Journey, Sky: Children of the Light
Number of employees	18 (at Journey release)
Website	thatgamecompany.com

Thatgamecompany, Inc. (styled as thatgamecompany) is a United States-based independent video game development studio, established in 2006 by University of Southern California graduates Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago. Originally, the company was commissioned by Sony Computer Entertainment to produce three downloadable games for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network. Subsequently, they obtained independent financing. Their debut title was a reimagined version of Chen's acclaimed Flash game Flow, enhanced with multiplayer functionality and PlayStation 3 motion control integration, released on the PlayStation Store in 2007. This was succeeded by Flower in 2009, Journey in 2012, and Sky: Children of the Light, which launched on iOS in 2019, followed by Android in 2020, Nintendo Switch in 2021, and PlayStation 4 in 2022.

Chen highlights that the company's core business philosophy prioritizes crafting games that elicit emotional engagement rather than emphasizing conventional action gameplay, deliberately steering clear of blockbuster pressures that could stifle creative innovation.

History

Towards the end of 2005, USC graduate students Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, after releasing the experimental title Cloud, envisioned creating a studio dedicated to emotion-centric gaming experiences. Leveraging the emerging trend of digital distribution to minimize financial risks, Thatgamecompany was officially founded on May 15, 2006. Sony Computer Entertainment, impressed by Chen's Flash game Flow, commissioned them to develop three titles for the PlayStation Network and provided initial funding along with office facilities.

The original team comprised Chen (co-founder), Santiago (president and producer), Nick Clark (designer), and John Edwards (lead engineer). Although Chen initially worked at Maxis, he returned full-time to focus on Flower. The team opted to first develop Flow due to its more polished design. After some delays, the PlayStation 3 adaptation of Flow launched in February 2007, becoming the most downloaded PSN game that year and receiving widespread critical praise. Expansion content and a PSP version were created by external developers while Thatgamecompany concentrated on their subsequent project.

Flower, developed over two years by a compact team including composer Vincent Diamante, represented their first commercial release beyond academic settings. Upon its February 2009 debut, it garnered robust sales figures and numerous industry accolades. Following Flower, the company relocated to its own office space in Los Angeles.

Their third installment, Journey, arrived in March 2012 as the concluding title under their Sony agreement. The development team expanded from seven to eighteen members during its three-year production cycle. Despite financial hurdles, it achieved critical acclaim and commercial success, breaking sales records on the PlayStation Store. After this release, several key personnel including Santiago left to pursue other opportunities.

With their contract with Sony fulfilled, Thatgamecompany secured $5.5 million in venture capital investment to independently broaden development across multiple platforms. This funding supported Sky: Children of the Light, designed for wide platform accessibility and featuring innovative touch-based controls. In 2014, they raised an additional $7 million from Capital Today and other investors. During this phase, they reissued earlier titles on PlayStation systems and updated Journey for PlayStation 4.

Released as a free-to-play multiplayer adventure in July 2019, Sky continues to receive active support from Thatgamecompany. Plans to establish a second studio in Silicon Valley in 2020 were ultimately abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2022, Thatgamecompany announced a $160 million funding round and welcomed Pixar co-founder Edwin Catmull as an advisor. Chen disclosed that their fifth game is underway, described as "resembling a theme park" and representing their "most ambitious" endeavor yet, indicating ongoing expansion and strategic leadership within the gaming industry.

Philosophy

Thatgamecompany approaches game development by prioritizing the emotions they wish to inspire, setting themselves apart from conventional studios that typically begin with gameplay mechanics or genre classification. Co-founder Kellee Santiago explains that their mission is to broaden the emotional spectrum represented in video games, moving beyond familiar sensations such as thrill or fear. Creative director Jenova Chen highlights the importance of eliciting feelings rather than conveying direct narratives, deliberately steering clear of explicit themes to maintain an emphasis on the player's personal experience. Santiago envisions transforming the perception of video games from mass-market commodities into a versatile artistic medium with wide appeal.

Although the studio has internally produced action-oriented titles, Chen contends that dedicating efforts to innovative, emotion-centered games aligns better with Thatgamecompany’s independent business framework. This approach helps avoid the financial constraints linked to large-scale blockbuster projects, which might otherwise limit creative freedom and strategic decision-making.

Games

Flow (2006) presents a 2D simulation where players control an aquatic microorganism that evolves by consuming others, inspired by Chen’s studies on dynamic difficulty adjustment and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s psychological theory of "flow," or deep mental engagement. Released for PlayStation 3, this title laid the foundation for Thatgamecompany’s business model focused on inventive gameplay experiences.

The 2009 release Flower, considered a spiritual successor to Flow, utilizes PlayStation 3’s motion-sensing controls to navigate a flower petal through colorful landscapes. The game tells its story through visual and emotional cues without relying on text, reinforcing the company’s dedication to immersive experiential design. It broadened their audience reach with subsequent launches on iOS and PC platforms through Annapurna Interactive.

Journey (2012) follows a cloaked traveler crossing a vast desert toward a distant peak, incorporating anonymous multiplayer interactions online. Initially launched on PlayStation 3 and later available on Windows, it garnered critical acclaim including a Grammy nomination for its score composed by Austin Wintory—an important milestone highlighting video game music’s cultural significance.

Released in 2019, Sky: Children of the Light is Thatgamecompany’s most recent title, debuting first on iOS and Android before expanding to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. As a free-to-play offering featuring cosmetic microtransactions and in-game currency purchases, it aims at a diverse global player base. The game encompasses seven realms themed around various life stages and supports multiplayer connectivity among millions of users. By 2021, it had surpassed 100 million downloads and was honored as Apple’s iPhone Game of the Year in 2019. A PC demo was introduced during Steam Next Fest in October 2023, signaling continued growth in international markets.

Games

Title	Year	Publisher(s)	Platform(s)
			PS3	PS4	PSP	PS Vita	iOS	Android	Windows	Switch
Flow	2006	Sony Interactive Entertainment	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Flower	2009	Sony Interactive Entertainment Annapurna Interactive (iOS and PC)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Journey	2012	Sony Interactive Entertainment Annapurna Interactive (iOS and PC)	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Sky: Children of the Light	2019	Thatgamecompany	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes