Edmonton-based indie game studio latest to take blockbuster-making skills and get ‘pretty risky’

Studio Reset represents a new Edmonton-based studio emerging from Alberta’s established pool of experienced game developers. Co-founders Kaelin Lavallée, Kris Schoneberg and Francis Lacuna bring credits from BioWare and other Canadian studios, including work on Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Anthem and The Long Dark. Their move into independent development keeps experienced talent creating games in Edmonton while shifting from large AAA productions toward a small-team model focused on original intellectual property. The studio’s first game, The Eventide, is a supernatural mystery set in a stylized Canadian environment. Studio Reset’s formation also reflects a broader Canadian trend of veteran developers creating smaller independent studios amid layoffs, closures and increasing risk aversion at large publishers. For Alberta, it demonstrates how experience accumulated at major studios such as BioWare can contribute to the creation of new locally based companies and original projects.