The path to independence is long and fraught with peril, but thatgamecompany has arrived.

Up to this point, Journey and Flower developer thatgamecompany has been largely in the corner of Sony Computer Entertainment, thanks to a three game deal the developer signed with the company. With that deal now fulfilled, thatgamecompany has officially made the move to become its own independent company.

Posting on the company's official blog, creative director Jenova Chen announced that the developer has received a $5.5 million infusion of cash from Benchmark Capital, and will be striking out on its own from here on out. This means that the studio is now free to pursue multiplatform development for its next, as-yet-unannounced project.

For those hoping for an eventual port of Journey on other consoles, don't hold your breath. As part of the original deal with Sony, those three games remain exclusive to PlayStation platforms. But considering the consistent rise in quality thatgamecompany has shown with each successive release, there's still good reason to be excited about whatever the team has cooking coming to a wider slate of platforms.