Thatgamecompany Now An Independent Entity

Up to this point, Journey and Flower developer thatgamecompany has been largely in the corner of Sony Computer Entertainment, thanks to a three game deal the developer signed with the company. With that deal now fulfilled, thatgamecompany has officially made the move to become its own independent company.

Posting on the company's official blog, creative director Jenova Chen announced that the developer has received a $5.5 million infusion of cash from Benchmark Capital, and will be striking out on its own from here on out. This means that the studio is now free to pursue multiplatform development for its next, as-yet-unannounced project.

For those hoping for an eventual port of Journey on other consoles, don't hold your breath. As part of the original deal with Sony, those three games remain exclusive to PlayStation platforms. But considering the consistent rise in quality thatgamecompany has shown with each successive release, there's still good reason to be excited about whatever the team has cooking coming to a wider slate of platforms.

Woot!

Edit: YESSS

Wonder when/if they will make the jump to a retail product.

Cool.

Ah twitter. Learned this several days ago. Cross-platform would be nice.

Good for them, that's an excellent gamecompany.

so that's a thing gamecompany, right alex?

I was gonna buy Journey yesterday, but then I got Playstation Plus instead. Probably the right choice?

FREEEEEEDOOOOOOOM!

They're headed for Steam no doubt, don't expect to see them on XBLA anytime soon. They've already said that they're self-publishing their next game and MS won't allow people to self publish on XBLA.

I'm half expecting an iOS title. Not in a bad way though.

Great news for those who don't own a PS3 (regarding future releases) and great news for the company. Independence!

Flower and Journey are among those experiences that I will always associate with the PS3. Both games, both soundtracks, both dynamic themes, all purchased through PSN. And except for those few days I used Journey's dynamic theme my Flower theme has yet to change (dynamic but subtle themes are the best).

I remain excited as always to hear what thatgamecompany is working on next.

God bless them, I look forward to their next game.

@csl316 said:

I was gonna buy Journey yesterday, but then I got Playstation Plus instead. Probably the right choice?

I thought Journey was one of the best downloadable games I have ever played. While plus is fine in it's own right, I just never see anything worth playing on there.

This is pretty cool news. I hope they get to branch out to more platforms now.

There's a large part of me that hopes they're able to expand and put things out a little faster...though the rest of me realizes that could compromise the quality of their games. They just make such special, singular experiences, and I wish there was more of it.

As long as TGC stays afloat I am happy.

@csl316 said:

I was gonna buy Journey yesterday, but then I got Playstation Plus instead. Probably the right choice?

No. Go buy Journey. Now.

@Xeirus said:

@csl316 said:

I was gonna buy Journey yesterday, but then I got Playstation Plus instead. Probably the right choice?

I thought Journey was one of the best downloadable games I have ever played. While plus is fine in it's own right, I just never see anything worth playing on there.

lot of really good games on there as of right now

Journey on xbox..... pllleeeeaaassseeeee *cute face

Some times studios don't work so well without someone to keep them in check, others really improve ten fold. Time will tell which case this is.

@Animasta said:

@Xeirus said:

@csl316 said:

I was gonna buy Journey yesterday, but then I got Playstation Plus instead. Probably the right choice?

I thought Journey was one of the best downloadable games I have ever played. While plus is fine in it's own right, I just never see anything worth playing on there.

lot of really good games on there as of right now

Yeah my roommate has plus, though I admit this month is one of the best I've seen I still don't feel like those interest me enough.

I would love to see what they could do with a phone or table platform.

@csl316: I don't know... Journey's really one of a kind...

@Nasher02 said:

Journey on xbox..... pllleeeeaaassseeeee *cute face

Did you even read the article?

YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY

@Twinsun said:

Wonder when/if they will make the jump to a retail product.

I'd rather they continue to make unique small games.

Too bad they had so many talented people jump ship after Journey. I hope they continue to pursue their unique voice in the digital landscape, and don't cash in on multiplatform generic gameplay.

Cool, can't wait to see what they do next

I hope they can sell enough fancy, super creative games to stay afloat instead of making more mainstream stuff. As much as I want their games to come out on the Xbox too, I just feel paranoid and worried about this without the (supposed) safety of a first party.

Great news, would love to see their work reach as wide an audience as possible.

We won't get Journey, but as a 360 owner I'm hoping for something equally awesome.

@C_Rakestraw said:

@csl316 said:

I was gonna buy Journey yesterday, but then I got Playstation Plus instead. Probably the right choice?

No. Go buy Journey. Now.

I agree, Journey might be the best game released this year (considering everything else is getting delayed too) but go buy Journey, well worth your money

To me, that definitely seems like a blow to Sony. XBLA is always getting things exclusive, or at least exclusive for as long as it matters (are Fez or Bastion ever coming to PSN?), and thatgamecompany's games have always been what made PSN games seem worth following in spite of that.. so Sony definitely has some work to do now.

If their plan is to self publish in the future, I still wouldn't hold my breath for Xbox versions of their games. MS doesn't allow self publishing through XBLA. I think expansion to Steam and possibly iOS and Android are highly likely, but as long as MS requires you to go through a big publisher or sign an exclusivity deal with them, Xbox is gonna be a long shot.

Yes! Make PC versions of Flower and Journey, right now! Pleeease! I don't own a PS3 but would absolutely love to play both.

Edit: Darn I should have read the story before I posted. :(

Fl0w was só special to me. Fl0wer was good. More of the same in a spiritual sense. Journey was... everything I wanted it to be. No more, no less. TGC made some incredible games. Now they're going multi-platform. I'm happy for them they'll make an extra buck because of this, but I fear for the quality of their future products.

Awesome! Can't wait to finally be able to play their weird games.

I like how some of you automatically assume that the next game will be on 360 alone, or on both consoles. They could probably make a shit ton of cash by making some thing iOS related.

In any case, whatever they develop for, it will probably be equally as great as their other titles.

Awesome, imagine what they could do with even more creative liberty.

I loved Journey, the idea that I could play their next on my PC excites me greatly.

TGC's Community Manager is hinting pretty strongly on NeoGAF not to expect their next game on 360.

@Xeirus said:

@Animasta said:

@Xeirus said:

@csl316 said:

I was gonna buy Journey yesterday, but then I got Playstation Plus instead. Probably the right choice?

I thought Journey was one of the best downloadable games I have ever played. While plus is fine in it's own right, I just never see anything worth playing on there.

lot of really good games on there as of right now

Yeah my roommate has plus, though I admit this month is one of the best I've seen I still don't feel like those interest me enough.

Lucky for Plus, I've been meaning to play Space Marine and Just Cause 2 for quite a while. Too bad I own most of the others, but still!

I'll play Journey. Eventually. I was late coming to Braid as well, but the nice thing about playing games late is talking to people that finished them months ago. They'll be all excited and start to remember why they dug the game in the first place.

@benjaebe: I'm sure MS would be willing to make exceptions for the developer of the biggest Downloadable game on their rival platform.

@SamFo said:

@benjaebe: I'm sure MS would be willing to make exceptions for the developer of the biggest Downloadable game on their rival platform.

It was thatgamecompany who said it when someone asked if their next game was coming to Xbox, so I'm sure they've already checked it out and come to that conclusion.

@benjaebe said:

@SamFo said:

@benjaebe: I'm sure MS would be willing to make exceptions for the developer of the biggest Downloadable game on their rival platform.

It was thatgamecompany who said it when someone asked if their next game was coming to Xbox, so I'm sure they've already checked it out and come to that conclusion.

But... I assume they weren't independent then?

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Twinsun said:

Wonder when/if they will make the jump to a retail product.

I'd rather they continue to make unique small games.

the future is smaller anyway

also this news excites me

Thatgamecompany + something on Steam... oh god yes, I am hoping for good things to come.

Love their games, hope they go multi-platform so a wider audience can experience their brilliant experiences.

That reminds me, I have to grab Journey soon. I loved their first two games.