“By Louis Livingston-Garcia, In Business Madison
After years of working for video game giants in California like 2K, Blizzard and Netflix Games, Wisconsin native Ben Kvalo had a vision for publishing games in his native Midwest.
Kvalo, who founded Midwest Games in 2023 when he moved back to Wisconsin, said it would not have been possible without the support of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and TitletownTech, a venture capital firm formed by the Packers and Microsoft, in Green Bay.
“WEDC offers the QNBV (Qualified New Business Venture) credit to investors, which we took advantage of,” said Kvalo, who also serves as CEO of the seven-person company. It offers incentives for investors to put their money into early-stage Wisconsin businesses, and Kvalo said “it helped us land a few we wouldn’t have gotten besides that.”
Wisconsin has had some success as a home to independent developers and large triple-A studios — studios that make large budget video games — like Raven Software, which is now owned by Activision.”
Ben Kvalo is a 2010 UW-Green Bay grad.
Source: Proposed state tax credit could drive video game industry, Insight on Business