Thatgamecompany's flOw and Flower both topped annual PSN charts

Sony's investment in thatgamecompany really paid off, producing two of the PlayStation Network's top performers.

"[Thatgamecompany's games have] been performing extremely well on the PlayStation network. flOw was the number one title on the PlayStation Network its year, Flower was the number one title its year and remained in the top download section for the next two years," studio co-founder Kellee Santiago told Business Insider.

"With all our games we want to show that there's an opportunity to make games that are about different emotions and subjects. Players want that too."

Santiago revealed that thatgamecompany had been "incubated" inside Sony Santa Monica as part of a scheme to make the PlayStation Network an outlet for diverse games.

"Sony wanted to use the PlayStation Network as an opportunity to bring new types of interactive experiences to their console at different price points," she said.

"They had a lot of opportunity to experiment in digital distribution."

Starting off under the mentorship of the Santa Monica studio gave thatgamecompany some breathing space to grow into the respected developer it is today.

"It really worked out well because it allowed us to start a game studio without worrying about some of the more managerial aspects. [To] know that [when] we finished our first game, we wouldn't immediately have to start selling our next one. We didn't have to tackle the challenges of doing a commercial title."

Interestingly, Santiago says other studios were birthed in the same way after thatgamecompany, but have not been announced.

Thatgamecompany's next release is Journey, expected in northern spring, exclusively for PlayStation 3.