Jenova Chen, founder of thatgamecompany, is celebrating a new beginning today with news that the developer has acquired $5.5 million in funding to help 🍃it become a full-service independent studio.

“Today I am pleased to announce thatgamecompany has raised funding to develop and reℱlease our games independently,” wrote Chen on thatgamecompany's , explaining, “This enables us to bring our games to more platforms and provide our players the highest quality experience at every point of contact.”

The funding comes from , a venture capitol firm that has also provided cash flow to Meteor Entertainment, makers of the upcoming mech-☂combat game Hawken. Speaking to the lucrative partnership, Chen added: “Together we share a vision for bringing emotionally compelling interactive entertainment to players worldwide.”

thatgamecompany's last title, Journey, became the fastest-sꦍ𝓡elling PlayStation Network game in the history of Sony's online service when it was released this March. It was also the last of three PSN-exclusive games that were developed for Sony by thatgamecompany under a now-expired deal. Thanks to Benchmark Capita🍨l's backing, Chen and his team plan to bring their games to a wider audience, beginning with an unnamed multi-platform title currently in development.

“I feel privileged to be riding shotgun with [Jenova]. The ambitions for Thatgamecompany are very exci🐲ting to me,” said Mitch Lasky with Benchmark, in comments obtained by . “It’s a great time for Jenova to be completely unfettered when it comes to innovation. He is ready to spread his wings now.”