J. Isaac Gadient
Madison, Wisconsin: An hour west of Milwaukee and half its size; two hours west of Chicago and a tenth its size. But Madison does boast one feature (in addition to the best cheese curds in the world): A robust local game development scene. To name a few studios: Raven Software, Respawn, PUBG, Filament Games, and Lost Boys Interactive.
Ben Kvalo (CEO of Midwest Games, formerly Lead Program Manager of Games at Netflix) has stepped up this year as the new Board President of the Wisconsin Games Alliance (WGA). Kvalo brings new energy and a new approach to the Midwest’s largest video game industry-focused event.
Most significantly, the “show”, as Kvalo called it all weekend, is now two (2) days long instead of just the one as it always had been. MDEV25 took place on November 7-8 at the Alliant Energy Center here in Madison, WI. There was a kickoff social the night before as well that had some talks and drinks—a bit of a “red carpet” style event. Some folks dressed up in formalwear, others wore casual attire, and others still came in full cosplay! The celebratory preconference set the inclusive tone of the weekend.
The conference had no trouble expanding to fill two days of content—there were loads of amazing talks by developers, keynote speakers, and indie games on display at the showcase. The opening talk by Gordon Bellamy (Gay Gaming Professionals, Designer on the original Madden games) was dense in the best way. Bellamy dropped so many nuggets of wisdom in this single talk that I could barely keep up with writing them down in my notebook. One gem I was able to capture was that “Wisdom compounds when we honor where we come from.” This got me to stop thinking, “Why is this guy from D.C. who lives in California speaking at a conference in and about the midwest?” I felt invited to feel enough where I was—indie and in-between the coasts. He told us: “You don’t need permission from anyone to do this.”
The most profound moment of Bellamy’s keynote was when he asked the entire MDEV crowd to get out their phones, open up LinkedIn, and hand their smartphones to someone next to them from another state. Some folks of course were reluctant to do so, but the energy in the room was buzzing. I met two new people, one of whom I spent some nice time with during the conference: A fellow writer, all the way from Arizona, who was able to attend thanks to a gifted pass from Amir Satvat’s Gaming Community.
The other keynote speaker, Chris Melissinos, mused that web-based gaming could be the future of our industry thanks to HTML5. Instead of purchasing more consoles, we could all use the hardware we already have: Our computers, TVs, and smartphones. In addition to discussing the future, he talked about the past (he is, after all, a video game archivist), and brought out onstage one of the original PONG motherboards, which honestly impressed me more than I would have guessed. Neat to be in the same room with such a material piece of game development history.
As a narrative designer myself, I was delighted there were several talks on writing. Quinn Elmer (previously Lost Boys Interactive and The Initiative) finished his trilogy on The StorytellingToolkit with adroitness and aplomb. He even put on his (metaphorical) turtle neck to get scholarly and technical with us.
The focus for this third and final installation of The Storytelling Toolkit was on implementation. Elmer used Unreal Engine’s Blueprints as an example, since that’s what he used when he was working on the cancelled Perfect Dark reboot and suggested Lua as a relatively simple programming language that narrative designers could learn that would teach applicable skills for scripting in whatever languages and tools studios may have them use.
Perhaps the most interesting talk I caught was a panel of folks who brought to life the game Powwow Bound: A Menominee Homecoming, a narrative adventure created by a partnership between
Nebraska Public Media and PBS Wisconsin. The Game Designer Jacob Schwitzer and Writer Justin Eagle Gauthier were on the panel and discussed the deep cultural importance of representing a contemporary Native experience with respect and authenticity.
To catch more excellent words from all of these keynote speakers, keep your eyes peeled: This will be the first year since the first MDEV that all the talks will be uploaded to YouTube. Keep a look out for WGA getting those edited and posted (I assume sometime early next year).
I didn’t delve deeply into the indie games showcase because—good problem to have—I had so many friends at the conference! I got to enjoy friends old and new from Chicago; I had impromptu meetings with devs I’d been connected with on LinkedIn; I got to see some local Madison gamedevs that I don’t often see the rest of the year; and I was able to speak with some of the presenters whose talks inspired me.
The game I did spend the most time with was Midwest Goodbye. The devs were kind and excited, and explained that the title was chosen from many adjectives and nouns on a whiteboard, and they had to build something that it evoked for them, jam-style. The combination of 2D hand-illustrated characters and 3D environments was fun and inviting. The setting and premise of the story was pleasant—I’m a sucker for slice-of-life games.
As a former marketing volunteer for WGA, I can say objectively that the best thing the team did for promoting MDEV2026 was to put on a truly amazing MDEV2025. This year was exciting and cozy at the same time for me, and that’s all I ever want out of life. Some familiarity, some freshness; learning and sharing; having fun and getting down to business. I’m hopeful for the Midwest as a haven for gamedevs.
DISCLOSURE: The author of this article volunteered from April to October as a member of the marketing committee for the WGA.
P.S. There was a really lovely talk, “The Freelancing Life,” by author and game designer Matt Forbeck that bookended my MDEV experience.
(PICTURED: Just so everyone knows the kind of badass you’re dealing with when Matt Forbeck gives a talk…He yapped in front of this projection of his nonexistent powerpoint. Almost an hour of freestyling on freelancing.)
Matt’s awesome talk didn’t make it into my main piece, but these most gilded nuggets are too good to not impart!
TO SURVIVE THE FREELANCING LIFE:
1) Set up an S Corp for tax purposes.
2) Diversify your income streams; even in different industries.
3) If you want to tell stories with your writing, you have to learn to talk to people first.
4) ALWAYS ask for more money.
5) Explain WHY they should pay you more money.
6) Cut your expenses.
7) Read every contract is if it were written by your WORST ENEMY.
8) NEVER agree to any job “paid upon publication.”
and this trinity:
A) Don’t be a jerk;
B) Show up on time;
and C) Do what you say you’ll do.
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