At GamesBeat Next 2026 in San Francisco, industry leaders discussed how the changing games publishing landscape is giving independent studios more control over how they bring their games to market.

As traditional publishing deals become harder to secure, a more modular approach is emerging, allowing developers to access specialist services without committing to conventional publishing agreements.

Moderated by Christopher Anjos, the panel featured Adam Orth, the chief executive officer of Midwest Games, and Liam Wiltshire, the vice president and general manager at Tebex, which sponsored GamesBeat Next.

During the panel Orth described Midwest Games as a modern, modular publisher that helps developers access exactly the services they need, rather than charging for an all-encompassing publishing package.

“We really do lean into the word modular, and we help people bring their games to market with exactly what they need without charging them for the things that they don’t,” Orth said.

Wiltshire stated that studios can manage much of the traditional publishing process themselves, while bringing in external experts for areas such as marketing, PR, community management and monetization. The distinction is that developers can retain ownership of the process without having to build every capability in-house.

Orth said the shift toward shadow publishing is already reflected in the kinds of requests Midwest Games receives. Rather than seeking millions in funding, more developers are self-funding their projects and approaching the company for specific support, such as marketing, release management and social strategy. He revealed that shadow publishing now accounts for around 75% of Midwest Games’ business.

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