Is the future of game publishing being built in the Midwest?

In this episode, Game Jam host Max Albert sits down with Ben Kvalo, founder of Midwest Games and former Netflix Games executive, for one of the most honest, insightful, and eye-opening conversations about the state of game publishing today.

Ben is not just building a new publisher. He’s rebuilding the entire model—with a developer-first approach, a new monetization structure, and a commitment to supporting talent in underrepresented regions like the Midwest.

This episode covers it all:

• Why 1.74% of games are earning 90% of the revenue

• How most publishers are still stuck in a broken, extractive model

• What “shadow publishing” is and why it might be the future

• Why Netflix Games is really about retention, not content

• And what it means to build sustainable infrastructure for indies in 2025 and beyond

Whether you’re an indie dev, investor, publisher, or just someone who cares about the future of gaming—you do not want to miss this conversation.

Topics Covered:

00:00 – GDC, VIP sightings, and post-conference chaos

03:00 – Why the games industry still exploits developers

06:00 – How game publishing is becoming more like indie film

09:00 – Ben’s process for evaluating games at Midwest

14:00 – What makes a game commercially viable

17:00 – Shocking revenue stats: publishers vs. everyone else

20:00 – Inside Netflix Games: retention, IP strategy, and churn

26:00 – Why gaming needs better curation platforms

33:00 – The rise of Shadow Publishing

40:00 – Building a sustainable publishing model for 2025

44:00 – Overrated vs. underrated: AI art, live service, UGC

50:00 – Publishing in the Midwest and funding overlooked talent