Building a Studio That Lasts | Corbin Reeves
ABOUT Corbin:
Corbin Reeves is a game designer, educator, and founder of Azure Ravens Entertainment, an independent game development studio focused on sustainable growth, co-development partnerships, and creating opportunities for emerging talent. With more than a decade of experience in the gaming industry, Corbin has built a studio model that combines contract work, mentorship, education, and independent game development to create long-term stability in a highly competitive market. He also serves as a professor at universities across Michigan, helping prepare the next generation of game developers while actively contributing to the growth of the Midwest game development community.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Why most indie studios underestimate how difficult entrepreneurship really is
The realities of building a sustainable game studio in today's market
How co-development and contract work can fund long-term creative goals
The importance of community building and industry relationships
Why underpricing can actually hurt your business
Lessons learned from raising rates and creating financial stability
How mentorship accelerated Azure Ravens' growth
Building a people-first culture that retains talent
Why Corbin calls interns "apprentices"
Creating pathways for emerging developers to enter the industry
Managing uncertainty, risk, and near-business failures
The power of optimism combined with operational realism
Why founders need to understand every dollar in their business
How strong systems create opportunities when luck arrives
The importance of asking for help and seeking mentorship
Why sustainable leadership matters more than ever in gaming
In This Episode…
Carl sits down with Corbin Reeves, game designer, educator, and founder of Azure Ravens Entertainment, to explore what it really takes to build a sustainable indie game studio in an industry known for volatility, uncertainty, and relentless competition.
Over the past decade, Corbin has built Azure Ravens into a thriving co-development studio that has survived where many indie studios have disappeared. Through a combination of disciplined financial management, community engagement, mentorship, contract work, and an unwavering commitment to people-first leadership, he has created a studio model designed to weather the industry's toughest storms.
Carl and Corbin dive deep into the realities of entrepreneurship, pricing creative services, managing risk, building sustainable teams, mentoring emerging developers, and maintaining optimism when everything seems uncertain. Along the way, Corbin shares hard-earned lessons from nearly losing the studio, finding opportunity at the last possible moment, and creating a workplace culture that keeps talented people invested in a shared vision.
This episode is packed with practical wisdom for game developers, creative entrepreneurs, studio founders, freelancers, educators, and anyone building something meaningful in an unpredictable industry.
Resources Mentioned in this episode:
🌐 Azure Ravens Entertainment: https://www.azureravens.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corbinreeves
🎮 Azure Ravens on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/azure-ravens-entertainment
Sponsor for this episode...
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We are a collective of senior-level artists across multiple disciplines, producing trailers, key art, social campaigns, branded storytelling, and motion systems for entertainment, gaming, and pop culture brands. Our work has supported major networks and studios, including SYFY and Nickelodeon.
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