{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Naavik Gaming Podcast","title":"A New Era of Publishing","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3938,"description":"\nLive from Gamescom at the Xsolla Clubhouse in Cologne, Alexandra Takei, VP of Platform Revenue & Gaming at Medal and General Intuition, sits down with Ben Kvalo, Founder and CEO of Midwest Games, to unpack what she calls \"new age publishing.\" With traditional deals no longer the only game in town, Ben explains why he built Midwest Games to run two publishing models under one roof: a classic invest-and-revenue-share arm, and \"Shadow Publishing,\" a for-hire services model that lets developers keep their IP and revenue entirely.\n\nDrawing on his background at 2K, Blizzard, and Netflix, Ben breaks down why he chose to root the company in the Midwest rather than a traditional hub, how studios actually choose between the two publishing tracks, and why investors like Prevail, Kun Gao (Crunchyroll), and Mitchell Patterson (Wolfjaw) bet on a hybrid publisher in a moment when capital is fleeing games for AI (and how it completely reversed from the VC financing era in 2021 where VC’s wouldn’t touch publishers). The conversation gets concrete with real portfolio examples plus Ben's take on discoverability, sourcing enough quality titles to publish something every month, and how AI is reshaping both developer costs and his own underwriting.\n\nThe episode closes with Ben's outlook on where publishing goes next.\nWe’d also like to thank Medal.tv for making this episode possible. If you're a PC gamer and want to clip your moments, or a studio, publisher, or marketer looking to reach a high-quality gaming audience and get your game in front of the right players, check out all Medal has to offer at https://grow.medal.tv.\n\nIf you like the episode, please help others find us by leaving a 5-star rating or review! And if you have any comments, requests, or feedback shoot us a note at podcast@naavik.co.\n \nWatch the episode: YouTube Channel\nFor more episodes and details: Podcast Website\nFree newsletter: Naavik Digest\nFollow us: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website\nSound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/I6fElHVztPSpIDUYjOOJIkFaMWeOFfzmuK4Zvdw4g2k/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kYWVl/NmFiNWZkNTg2NDJh/ODQ0NjIzNmRiMDdl/YjJjOC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}