What will it take to create gaming's first true "four-quadrant" experience that unites entire families like Pixar films?
In Part 2 of this heartfelt Gaming Founders Podcast conversation, hosts Eden Chen (CEO of Pragma) and Kevin Zhang (Partner at Upfront Ventures) continue exploring the thoughtful world of Jenova Chen, founder and Creative Director of thatgamecompany. How did Sky: Children of the Light blossom from 250K to 3 million daily players overnight? Chen shares the touching story of Japanese housewives creating fan art that sparked viral growth, and the year-long journey to perfect Android compatibility across countless device types. His honest reflection on his wife's mobile gaming experience reveals why he chose transparency over manipulation.
"The entire world is declining economically... people become less experimental," Chen reflects, offering perspective on why familiar stories like Black Myth Wukong resonate while innovative games struggle to find their audience. What if gaming could bring families together instead of driving them apart? Chen's gifting-based monetization creates genuine joy—players proudly share purchases rather than hiding guilty spending. His dream remains beautifully clear: crafting gaming's equivalent to a Miyazaki film, where fathers and mothers, sons and daughters can gather around one experience and feel closer afterward. Can the industry earn the respect it seeks by nurturing human connection rather than exploiting it?
Jenova Chen is the visionary founder and Creative Director of thatgamecompany, creator of acclaimed titles Cloud, Flow, Flower, Journey, and Sky: Children of the Light. After earning a computer science degree in Shanghai, Chen studied at USC's Interactive Media Division where his student project "Cloud" became a viral phenomenon. His games have earned numerous accolades, with Journey achieving the highest historical Metacritic rating for any PlayStation Network exclusive. Named to MIT Technology Review's TR35 list of top innovators under 35, Chen specializes in emotional game design and positive psychology, pioneering experiences that explore connection rather than violence.
Discussion points:
(00:00) Building viral game features - engineering higher resolution screenshots, invisible UI recording, and enabling user-generated content that drives organic growth
(05:02) Global gaming economics - how economic downturn drives sequel success, the concentration of revenue into proven IPs, and why experimental games are dying
(14:22) Monetization philosophy - rejecting predatory free-to-play mechanics, learning from Disney's charity experiments, and building transparent gifting systems
(36:35) Breaking into China and Japan - how 86% iPhone adoption in Japanese women created viral success, and the critical Android porting challenge
(45:23) The four-quadrant mission - pursuing industry respect through family gaming experiences that unite men, women, boys and girls like Pixar achieved for animation
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The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.
Pragma is a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnight, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2.
Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and SF, Upfront Ventures has backed startup teams across all technology sectors, with about half in Southern California, and the rest across the US and Europe. Kevin Zhang is an avid gamer and former neurobiology researcher who leads gaming and healthcare investments at Upfront Ventures, including Pragma.
Resources:
Jenova Chen LinkedInthatgamecompany