 Journey was the last game made under a three @-@ game contract between Thatgamecompany and Sony , the first two being Flow and Flower . Development of the game began in 2009 , after the release of Thatgamecompany 's previous title Flower . The 18 @-@ person development team for Journey was composed mainly of creators of the company 's previous games ; co @-@ founder Jenova Chen was the creative director and Nick Clark returned as lead designer . Kellee Santiago , producer of Flow and Flower , did not reprise her duties , concentrating instead on her role as the company 's president , and was replaced by Robin Hunicke . 
