About Us

Great games can come from anywhere.

Midwest Games is a video game publisher focused on creating opportunities for the abundant talent across the Midwest and other underrepresented regions. As our games succeed, we bring new underrepresented voices to market, support overlooked developers, and build local industry. Midwest Games is led by industry veterans, headquartered in Green Bay, WI.

We believe:

  • Great games come from well supported creatives.
  • Building meaningful change takes a community working together.
  • The power of place and relationships matter.
  • Long-term partnerships come above short-term gains.

Whether you live in the Midwest or elsewhere, if any of the above resonates, connect with us!

Our Team

Ben Kvalo

Ben Kvalo

Founder & CEO

Our fearless leader with a big vision for the Midwest and other regions, Ben is a Wisconsin native who has published 100+ game titles and 50+ films. Ben has helped build two of the largest games publishers (2K & Netflix Games) in the world. He’s worked across AAA, Indie, Mobile, Live-services, & Esports and led the World Cup of Video Games, BlizzCon, while at Blizzard. Ask him about Skee-Ball.

Alyssa Walles

Alyssa Walles

Chief Operating Officer

A dynamic leader with over 20 years of experience, Walles has a proven track record of driving operational excellence and revenue growth. Alyssa played a key role in the launch of the Walt Disney Gift Catalog and Sony PlayStation, re-launching the Atari brand, and negotiating national sports league agreements for the video game franchise Backyard Sports (NFL, MLB, NBA). She serves as Executive Director of IGDA Foundation.

Jen Corbett

Jen Corbett

Chief Marketing Officer

An expert in audience development, Jen leads marketing to help our games succeed. She has been a Vice President for Sony and Discovery focused on building fan communities. At Crunchyroll, Jen launched campaigns for top anime titles, blockbuster films and Crunchyroll Games and led the Anime Awards. Jen is based in Madison, WI.

Chris Klimecky

Chris Klimecky

Chief Project Officer / Head of Production

Chris is a veteran in game production and knows the intricacies of development and publishing. He has shipped 50+ games across platforms with start-up exits including Surreal Software acquired by Midway Games and Harebrained Schemes acquired by Paradox Interactive. Chris is a Michigan native, a UM Alumni and an accomplished musician and producer.

Ryan Greenberg

Ryan Greenberg

Community Manager

Ryan is a life long gamer with years of experience in building online communities through engaging content, empathy, and conversation. Ryan was a content creator, campaign manager, and community manager before joining the Midwest Games team where he manages our social channels and communities. He is based in Milwaukee, WI.

Kristen Lambert

Kristen Lambert

QA Lead

Kristen managed Quality Assurance at Wargaming Chicago-Baltimore for nearly a decade, working across games and consoles with a keen and compassionate eye. In her spare time, she pursues cosplay and costume design, and also serves as the Story Director for a LARP chapter, Dystopia Rising: Michigan. Kristen is dedicated to our partners and playerbase, making certain that our games are the best they can be.

Rebecca Denney

Rebecca Denney

Localization Producer

Rebecca Denney serves as our Localization Producer, directing production and marketing needs to bring our games to more languages and players worldwide! Rebecca is a games enthusiast and WI native.

Kay Bell

Kay Bell

Producer

Kay has led and built release management and production processes at multiple AAA and indie studios, with a foundation in player support and a life-long desire to uplift and support development teams. Outside of games, Kay spends hours playing Dungeons & Dragons and photographing their corgi, Mermin.

Jas Sanghani

Jas Sanghani

Social Content Strategist

Jas is a former video game content creator who specializes in digital marketing, content strategy, and community management. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, she is on a mission to continue connecting, inspiring, and making a difference in the games industry.

Nikko Koruna

Nikko Koruna

Marketing Manager

Nikko is an indie-focused marketer who has worked on campaigns for several indie titles, previously worked at another indie publisher Astra Logical. He got his start in the industry by developing his own indie game. Nikko is a Chicago native and spends his free time playing underground indie titles.

Advisors

Larry Hryb

Larry Hryb

Advisor - Communications

Larry Hryb, aka “Major Nelson”, joins as an Advisor for Communications. For two decades, Larry was a key for figure at Xbox, where he launched Xbox Live and developed Xbox 360, Kinect, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S.

Mark James

Mark James

Advisor - Technology

Mark is an experienced technology executive with success in building teams and delivering product. Mark served as Chief Technology Officer at Striking Distance Studios, Vice President of Technology at 2K, and held leadership positions at Zynga, LucasArts, Vivendi and Sony.

Liz Kuehn

Liz Kuehn

Advisor - Finance

Liz is a Finance Director at Meta, where she supports M&A, Treasury, and Procurement. Prior to joining Meta, Liz spent 16 years at Intel in various roles across Finance, Audit, and HR. She currently lives in Austin, TX with her family and is an Appleton, WI native who remains part owner of the Green Bay Packers (among thousands of other proud fans).

Board of Directors

Cordero Barkley

Cordero Barkley

Board of Directors

Cordero Barkley had a successful career in banking and wealth management before joining TitletownTech as a Partner. He spent nearly a decade with Associated Bank in various roles, from small business lending to retail banking to corporate financial education, before ending in wealth management, where he assisted high-net-worth individuals, business owners and their families. Earlier in Cordero’s career he worked as a credit analyst and personal banker for Wells Fargo. He currently serves on a number of boards in the Greater Green Bay community.


Gina Joseph

Gina Joseph

Board of Directors

Gina is a seasoned professional with nearly 20 years of experience in media and tech and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of VentureBeat. A Harvard Business School and UC Berkeley alum, she excels in strategic partnerships and business development and is a dedicated advocate for diversity and inclusion. Gina is the first Afghan American board member in the US for a games publisher.