Thatgamecompany goes independent with $5.5 million in funding
Jenova Chen's studio leaps from Sony's nest with its first round in Series A funding
Following its three-game partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment America, thatgamecompany is going independent with its $5.5 million round of Series A funding. Benchmark Capital led this first round of funding with Benchmark's Mitch Lasky joining TGC's board of directors. TGC's original deal with SCEA resulted in the publishing of flOw, Flower and Journey.
"Many of you have asked what's coming up next for TGC and whether our games can be played on other platforms. I have good news for you," wrote TGC founder Jenova Chen in a blog post.
"Today I am pleased to announce thatgamecompany has raised funding to develop and release our games independently. This enables us to bring our games to more platforms and provide our players the highest quality experience at every point of contact."
"The intent of the investment is to provide the resources for TGC to remain independent, so they can innovate with complete autonomy from the pressures of platforms and publishers.," wrote Lasky in his own blog post.
"We believe fundamentally in TGC's vision for interactive entertainment: to bring to games a little of what Pixar films brought to animation -- emotional depth, engagement with fully-realized worlds, and a strong sense of authorship. In the modern, hyper-connected games market, we believe TGC can reach the broadest possible audience if that vision can be fully controlled by the company. We're excited to be able to help to make that happen."