adminStudio Reset is a new Canadian indie game studio founded by experienced developers who are taking a deliberately focused approach to game development. Backed by CAN$250,000 from the Canada Media Fund (CMF), the team is creating a neon-noir supernatural mystery while prioritizing manageable scope, original intellectual property and long-term sustainability.
Studio Reset takes a smaller, sustainable approach
The studio’s founders are creative director and producer Kaelin Lavallée, design director Kris Schoneberg and art director Francis Lacuna. Their previous experience includes work at BioWare, Inflexion Games and Timbre Games. At Studio Reset, they are applying that background to a smaller-scale operation rather than pursuing growth for its own sake.
The team’s guiding principle is straightforward: a studio should not depend on one enormous hit simply to stay in business. A focused team can make it easier to communicate, keep creative decisions aligned and match a project’s ambition to the resources available. For players, that approach can also mean a more coherent game built around a clearly defined idea.
Studio Reset describes its model as intentional: the aim is to maintain a manageable team and build a game that suits the studio’s current capacity. Practical takeaway for developers: setting scope early and revisiting it as production progresses can help keep creative goals and budgets aligned.
Canada Media Fund supports the debut project
Studio Reset was one of 31 studios selected for the Canada Media Fund’s Interactive Digital Media Prototyping program. The CAN$250,000 award is supporting development of a prototype, which the studio can use to seek additional investment and apply for further CMF production funding.
The funding has also allowed the team to hire other Canadian companies and creative professionals through paid contracts. The founders say the application process required detailed work on project scope, schedules, budgets, market research and revenue modelling. These planning steps can help a small studio assess what it can deliver before committing to a larger production.
A neon-noir mystery built around perspective
Studio Reset’s debut game is a supernatural mystery with a neon-noir setting. Its central design concept, called “Parallax Deduction,” describes a perspective-led approach to gameplay. Rather than relying on puzzles with arbitrary solutions, the game is intended to make answers understandable through clues presented within the experience.
The mystery explores how different people can interpret the same object or event in different ways. Players will work with incomplete information and form their own conclusions, rather than being handed a single unquestionable reading of every moment. When approaching a mystery game, paying attention to details and considering who is describing an event can help reveal how perspectives shape the story.
Image credit: Studio Reset
Why Studio Reset’s model matters
Studio Reset’s plans connect its production strategy with its creative goals: a defined scope, staged funding and a distinctive debut project. Its founders have emphasized that a studio’s success does not have to be measured only by size. For players, the key detail to watch is how the prototype develops into a complete game while retaining its perspective-driven mystery design.
