{"rewrite":{"id":"r_8085c20e3623df8d3b1d642b","clusterId":"c_4384c33a576849ea8a25ed1d","slug":"thatgamecompany-marks-20-years-as-sky-passes-300-million-downloads","model":"deepseek-v4-flash:free","headline":"Thatgamecompany Marks 20 Years as Sky Passes 300 Million Downloads","summary":"thatgamecompany turned 20 in May 2026, and its live game Sky: Children of the Light has surpassed 300 million cumulative downloads as it enters its eighth year of operation. The studio launched a new in-game story, Dear Van Gogh, on July 17, based on real letters between Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo. Founder and CEO Jenova Chen discussed the milestone, the new content, and his views on AI in a recent interview.","whyItMatters":"The interview pairs the studio's 20th anniversary with its first narrative built around spoken and written language, a deliberate departure from the wordless games it has made for two decades.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003ethatgamecompany turned 20 in May, and its founder and CEO Jenova Chen sat for a wide-ranging interview that touched on the studio\u0026#39;s founding goals, the new Dear Van Gogh content, and the threat he sees in AI. The interview is the first conducted with him online, after several in-person meetings dating back to Tokyo Game Show 2019.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDear Van Gogh launched in Sky on July 17. It is a roughly 90-minute story in which players deliver letters between Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo, drawn from the real correspondence between the two. The studio, known for wordless games like flOw and Journey, is handling language head-on for the first time in this piece.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChen also spoke about the dark side of human nature he has faced while operating a world of 300 million players, and his feeling that handmade games might become the future\u0026#39;s Ghibli.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"thatgamecompany turns 20 as Sky passes 300M downloads. Dear Van Gogh, a 90-min story built on real letters, marks the studio's first real use of language. Chen talks AI, community, and the future of handmade games.","twitterPost":"thatgamecompany hits 20 years as Sky passes 300M downloads. Dear Van Gogh, a 90-min story from real letters, is the studio's first to use language head-on. Chen on AI and handmade games.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"thatgamecompany turned 20 in May, and Sky has now passed 300 million downloads. The studio's new Dear Van Gogh content, built on real letters between Vincent and Theo, is its first story to use language directly. Founder Jenova Chen discussed the milestone and AI in a new interview.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"4Gamer.net\",\"url\":\"https://www.4gamer.net/games/394/G039457/20260716051/\",\"title\":\"［インタビュー］「手作りのゲームは，未来の\\\"ジブリ\\\"になるかもしれない」--20周年のthatgamecompanyを率いるJenova Chenが語る，Skyと，ゴッホと，AIと，次なる新作\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":6168,"outputTokens":661,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1785983682,"createdAt":"2026-08-06T02:32:00.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-06T02:32:23.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-06T02:32:00.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_4384c33a576849ea8a25ed1d","canonicalTitle":"［インタビュー］「手作りのゲームは，未来の\"ジブリ\"になるかもしれない」――20周年のthatgamecompanyを率いるJenova Chenが語る，Skyと，ゴッホと，AIと，次なる新作","representativeArticleId":"a_470a486b90678a1bbefb0519","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Sky: Children of the Light\"],\"studios\":[\"thatgamecompany\"],\"people\":[\"Jenova Chen\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-07-24T00:30:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-07-24T00:30:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-06T02:32:23.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"4Gamer.net","url":"https://www.4gamer.net/games/394/G039457/20260716051/","title":"［インタビュー］「手作りのゲームは，未来の\"ジブリ\"になるかもしれない」――20周年のthatgamecompanyを率いるJenova Chenが語る，Skyと，ゴッホと，AIと，次なる新作"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Sky: Children of the Light"],"studios":["thatgamecompany"],"people":["Jenova Chen"],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}