Not to pick on this guy, but I've seen this sentiment a lot. I was a struggling solo indie dev making a passion project. I was about to sell out to a publisher so I could hire artists and finish my game properly. But I didn't, because I was saved by an Epic exclusivity deal. https://twitter.com/Mr_Centauri/status/1128764792145997824 …
If the studio is fully owned by a publisher then yes, the publisher gets the money, because the studio isn't independent, they have an owner. It's up to the publisher what they do with that money But for the majority of teams, additional funding up front offsets risk
