Maybe I’m old but every time a developer becomes a publisher, it’s the beginning of the enshitification process.
How about the finish Craftopia before they start shovelling more early access crafting clones at us…
Nobody even fucking uses the word “enshittification” correctly these days anyhow.
Even enshittification®️™️ is not safe from enshittification.
What exactly being “publisher” means? It’s not like most games are released on physical media these days or need distribution contracts in multiple countries.
Essentially, you help fund the development of the game for a cut of the profits later. Not a lot of studios are able to fund themselves between games. Granted, a lot of that is because they are sharing profits with a developer .
They’re like the record labels of gaming.
To add to the other comment, publishers can also help with, or wholly handle, marketing too.