Almofen Jonil 
Sky and Journey maker Thatgamecompany raises $160M
Thatgamecompany is a video game development studio based in Santa Monica, California. Since founding in 2006, the studio has released three critically acclaimed video games, Journey, Flow and Sky. In recent news, Thatgamecompany has raised $160 million in funding, allowing them to bolster their development capabilities and produce further games.
Let’s look at the games released by Thatgamecompany and their features.
Background on Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany is an independent video game studio and publisher based in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 2006 by former University of Southern California students Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen, Thatgamecompany seeks to create emotionally engaging experiences for individuals and communities worldwide. Additionally, they strive to move players away from violence as a typical game mechanic, opting for a more emotionally-involving gameplay style accessible to all ages.
Thatgamecompany has released three games throughout its history: Flow (2007), Flower (2009), and Journey (2012). All three explore different aspects of human emotions:
- Flow focuses on the balance between challenge and reward.
- Flower follows the story of a flower petal navigating its environment.
- Journey follows the journey of a mysterious wanderer across a vast desert.
Despite being award-winning titles, these games are not widely known among gamers but are considered commercial successes that positively impacted the indie gaming scene.
The Games
Aside from the acclaimed video game Sky, Thatgamecompany is perhaps best known for their games Journey and Flow. Both Journey and Flow have won many awards, offering a unique gaming experience that players have come to enjoy.
Let’s look at these two games from the renowned game studio.
Sky: Children of the Light
Sky: Children of the Light is an adventure game developed and published by award-winning thatgamecompany. It is the third major title released by thatgamecompany, following their previous games Journey and Flow. The game was released for iOS and Android on July 11, 2019.
Sky: Children of the Light is a social adventure game where players explore a fantasy kingdom to rekindle its forgotten constellations by solving puzzles and helping the local inhabitants. Players explore seven distinct realms within the kingdom, compete in special seasonal events, participate in companion events with friends, obtain custom outfits and accessories for their character, collect rewards for completing challenges, and earn rare items as rewards for completing daily quests.
The game’s social element also allows players to invite others worldwide to explore Sky’s magical worlds while they complete goals together. Animating beautiful light trails or singing together are just a few ways to connect with other players while exploring the vast kingdom.
Journey
Journey is an indie adventure game developed by Thatgamecompany and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 in 2012. The game follows the unnamed traveller in a journey towards a distant mountain in the desert. Along the way, the traveller interacts with other players and comes across ruins, shrines, and artefacts which can unlock additional story content.
The game emphasises exploration over traditional gameplay elements such as solving puzzles or reaching objectives. Players can freely roam around traversing various terrains including dunes and go through ancient ruins in their venture of discovery. Journey also features an online multiplayer experience in which other players may randomly join at any point during the game with whom they can play cooperatively or competitively throughout the game’s runtime.
The journey has received universal critical acclaim from the gaming community garnering multiple awards at several international gaming conferences and festivals throughout its lifetime including after a year of its release. It was also highly commended for its breathtaking visuals, captivating music scores, and simple yet effective art direction — making it one of Thatgamecompany’s masterpieces.
Flow
The second video game released by thatgamecompany, Flow is an independent PlayStation 3 video game created in 2006. Players take on the role of a small entity living in an underwater world. The game aims to act like a predatory organism, “eating” smaller objects and avoiding larger ones.
Players can control the movements of their creature either with the Sixaxis motion-sensing technology of the DualShock 3 controller or by using traditional buttons and analog control stick, which allows for much greater manoeuvrability. As players progress through increasingly challenging stages, they can evolve their character into more complex and exotic forms while gaining access to special abilities such as camouflage, stuns and electric shocks.
The aesthetic style of this title gives off an almost abstract feel as one dives into and out of swirling patterns of vibrant colours while encountering shoals of colourful fish and jellyfish that inhabit its deep blue world. Flow also features three additional modes – Relax (a no-rush mode where players can explore at their leisure), Challenges (short levels requiring specific objectives for completion), and Advanced (enhanced versions featuring stiffer difficulty).
This unique experience rewards those who enjoy completing challenging tasks and those who just want to sit back and admire its tranquil beauty.
Impact
Thatgamecompany (TGC) has greatly impacted the gaming industry with its innovative titles, such as Journey and Flow. These games have helped to change the way people think about video games, and have pushed the boundaries of what is possible in the industry.
This article will explore the impact of TGC’s games, particularly Journey and Flow, and how they have impacted the gaming industry.
Financial success
In terms of financial success, both Journey and Flow were highly successful. Journey was nominated for many awards, including 4 Game of the Year awards in 2012, and sold over three million copies across all platforms in less than a year.
Similarly, Flow was another commercial success for Thatgamecompany, selling over 1 million copies within the first few months of its release.
Both games achieved an immense amount of critical praise from numerous gaming outlets. Journey obtained four perfect scores at Metacritic and became the tenth highest rated PlayStation 3 game on record. Flow was similarly acclaimed, scoring 80/100 from around 10 critics at Metacritic within a few days of launch to become one of the only PlayStation 3 downloadable titles to ever achieve such high scores at launch.
Critical acclaim
On its release Journey received immense critical acclaim. IGN and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awarded the game numerous awards. In addition, it was one of the few video games to be inducted into the Smithsonian Institution as a permanent collection exhibit.
Critics praised Adventure’s visual and musical score for conveying emotions, its atmosphere for evoking an otherworldly journey, and the storytelling for speaking to both the mind, heart and soul. It also earned a Metacritic score of 92%, making it one of the highest rated games released on PlayStation 3.
Flow was generally well received by critics who praised its visuals but criticised its length of playtime. It received scores of 78% from GameRankings and 79/100 from Metacritic. Its feedbacks were mostly positive with criticism focused on lack of variety compared to other puzzlers on Playstation Network, such as fl0w or Piyotama. However, some feedbackers stated that they found Flow an enjoyable experience due to its solid visuals, simplistic gameplay mechanics, and audio design, which “creates an almost trance-like state.”
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