ASHWAUBENON Wis. — Part of Ben Kvalo's job is to play video games.
After all, he and Midwest Games are there to help developers get those ideas and products to market and in front of players.
He recently showed one of the titles Midwest Games works with.
“This game is RA RA BOOM from Gylee Games in Cincinnati, Ohio,” he said. “It's a four-player beat-em-style game with four female protagonists basically trying to save the world from AI.”
The Midwest Games began in late August at TitletownTech in Ashwaubenon.
As a game publisher, it provides assistance to independent developers through things like funding, quality assurance, marketing and other support.
Focused on helping game developers in the Midwest.
“One of our big goals is to really change where toys come from,” said Kvalo, a Portage native who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. “So much of the industry is consolidated in three U.S. states, and there's a lot of opportunity and talent in areas like the Midwest and Wisconsin that could stay in the Midwest if they had the chance.”
(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)
TitletownTech partner Cordero Barkley said Midwest Games fills a gap in video game publishers in the region.
“A lot of people don't realize there's a ton of development talent going on here,” he said. “Developer talent, studio talent and a lot of them end up going to the coast to find these opportunities. As a publisher in the Midwest, there are no major publishers in the gaming space, but Midwest Games has an opportunity to change that narrative.”
Over the past five years, TitletownTech has grown the number of companies it supports to over 30.
“The unique part of what's happening now is we've kind of moved from people thinking this would work to now people believing it will work,” Barkley said.
(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)
Kvalo has worked for some of the biggest names in video games and entertainment — outside of Wisconsin.
He said other game development hubs, such as Austin, Texas and parts of Scandinavia, sprung from small beginnings.
“I see a lot of potential here to be able to grow into something much bigger,” Kvalo said. “It just needs a little push from people who have come from the industry and know how it works and know how to build it. It just builds the ecosystem.”
(Spectrum News 1/Nathan Phelps)
