MDEV

media release: The Wisconsin Games Alliance is excited to present MDEV 2024, the 6th iteration of this exciting event focused around games industry professionals, on Nov. 8. 

After more than doubling attendance in 2023, the event’s footprint at the Alliant Energy Center will grow in scale to match the growing interest and impact in the regional community for 2024.

“MDEV began back in 2017 as a celebration of the local video game development industry and the amazing people who make the games. We started the conference with the intent of establishing Wisconsin and the Midwest Region as a great place to make games and do business.” said Tim Gerritsen, Co-Executive Chair of MDEV and COO of Lost Boys Interactive. “In the years since then, the Wisconsin Games Alliance has been able to use MDEV as a catalyst to growing the local video game industry to ever greater heights and attract new business while advocating for our diverse workforce on the national and international stage. We are incredibly excited to announce our biggest show yet and invite the industry from around the world to join us.”

With the goal of continuing to be the centerpiece of the game developer community in the Midwest, organizers have scaled up operations and will be announcing some large partnerships and speakers in the coming months.

“Our goal in 2024 is to create an accessible event for our regional developers, allowing for learning, networking, and showcasing of the incredible regional talent that exists outside of the coasts,” said Ben Kvalo, co-executive chair of MDEV and founder of Midwest Games. “We are creating a compelling alternative to industry events in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles, that have become cost-prohibitive to attend, while bringing in a lot of similar speakers and panelists you’d find elsewhere.”

The show will feature speakers, panels, and workshops for attendees along with the opportunity for developers to showcase their games and for artists to show their work in the Artist Alley and compete in the Art Show. There will also be pre-MDEV social events and a Virtual Ticket available for those that can’t attend physically.

Madison’s developer scene has been bolstered in recent years with brands, like EA’s Respawn Studio and Epic Games, joining the mix. This along with Microsoft’s acquisition of two studios in Madison, Activision’s Raven Software and Bethesda Softworks Roundhouse Studios, along with the growth of Lost Boys Interactive, under the Embracer Group, and Krafton’s PUBG studio has seen Wisconsin become a developer hub. Homegrown game studios like Guild Software, PerBlue, Filament Games, Flippfly, and Pyramid Lake Games has further grown opportunities in the space.

Wisconsin has also seen its first two Vvdeo game publishers open their doors in Midwest Games, from former Netflix exec Ben Kvalo, and Bigmode, from famous video game YouTuber, Jason Gastrow aka videogamedunkey, and fellow YouTuber and spouse, Leah Bee.

As the region is primed for further growth, MDEV seeks to be the meeting point for the community in the region and an opportunity for folks from Chicago, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati, and other regional developer hubs to converge.

A big thanks to our early sponsors Lost Boys Interactive, Raven Software, Guild Software, Midwest Games, Make Visual, Allison Salmon, and Basementmode.

More information available at www.mdevconf.com

ABOUT WISCONSIN GAMES ALLIANCE

A local network of game studios, independent developers, faculty, investors, and regional economic agencies with the shared mission of promoting Wisconsin as a premier site for game development.

The Wisconsin Games Alliance (WGA) is dedicated to advancing the games and related industries in Wisconsin and the broader Midwest and beyond. They believe that game development and enjoyment is for everyone. For more information, please visit www.WisconsinGamesAlliance.com.