Capstone to Career | TFS Video Game Talent Launch Sun Seal Studios with Debut Game ‘Beat Dodger’

In a whirlwind six-month sprint from concept to creation, a group of Toronto Film School’s Video Game alumni and students have come together to form an indie game studio – and they’re already gearing up to launch their first title.

The brainchild of 2024 Video Game Design & Development (VGD) graduate Richard Cuartero, Sun Seal Studios is set to release Beat Dodger – a vibrant, rhythm-based arcade game – on June 20 on Steam.

The single-player title invites players to dodge, tap, and soar through pulsing worlds in time with the beat, blending high-energy gameplay with dynamic visuals and difficulty modes that suit both casual players and hardcore rhythm game fans.

But for Cuartero, this launch is about more than gameplay mechanics and release dates. It’s the culmination of a journey that began at Toronto Film School and has grown into a passion-fueled studio – one rooted in collaboration, mentorship, and meaningful representation.

“My end goal was always to run a studio, so I figured, let’s start now,” Cuartero said of his decision to launch Sun Seal Studios. “Even if we don’t get anything huge out of this right away, it’s good practice.”

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Building Sun Seal: A Studio Born from Collaboration

The first seeds of Sun Seals Studio were planted shortly after Cuartero graduated in June 2024. Alongside fellow capstone teammate and Class of 2024 VGD alum Ivan Lee – now level designer and co-producer for the studio’s debut – he began exploring ways to continue developing games while job hunting and freelancing.

When an opportunity arose to apply for the Futures Forward grant program, supported by Ontario Creates and the Canada Media Fund, Cuartero and his small team sent in their proposal and anticipated a long wait. Rather than sitting idle, they set an ambitious goal: create and publish a game in six months while they waited.

That project became Beat Dodger.

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Realizing they needed more hands on deck, Cuartero returned to the source of his strongest network – Toronto Film School.

“I thought back to the game jams,” he said, referring to the popular, fast-paced student competitions. “Megan MacKinnon, our 2D artist (and a Video Game Design & Animation grad), was our biggest competition back then. I reached out and asked if she’d want to work with us – and luckily, she said yes.”

Through the support of faculty and alumni connections, the team expanded. Estelle Schoeman, a current VGD student, joined as a generalist programmer, and Alexa Cuvin, another sixth term VGD student with whom Cuartero had previously collaborated, came on board as a 3D modeller.

The full team now consists of:

• Richard Cuartero – Technical Director & Lead Game Designer
• Ivan Lee – Producer & Level Designer
• Megan MacKinnon – 2D Artist
• Alexa Cuvin – 3D Modeller
• Estelle Schoeman – Generalist Programmer

Beat Dodger

With its vibrant style and pulse-pounding music, Beat Dodger invites players into a kinetic experience where reflexes and rhythm reign supreme. Players will dodge a wide array of obstacles – some fly, some shatter, others pulse to the beat – across multiple musical worlds. The game features multiple difficulty modes, allowing players to either chase high scores or unwind with a more relaxed play style.

“We wanted a project that would help us learn. With Beat Dodger, we figured we’re gonna learn about publishing. We’re gonna learn a bit more about marketing. We’re gonna learn how to work with and how to implement a really good audio system. We’re gonna learn how to work with menus,” Cuartero explained.

“We wanted to get a lot of practice with Beat Dodger, it being our first entry for the games we publish, and then hopefully transfer all that new knowledge on to our other projects going forward.”

The project served as more than just a learning opportunity, though – it also served a professional purpose: to give every member of the team a published game to show potential employers, particularly soon-to-be-gradtuates Cuvin and Schoeman.

“We started this project in the new year, and I told them from the start that I really, really wanted to make it so that, by the time they graduate, they already have a published game in their portfolios – because I knew that would be really, really big for them,” Cuartero said.

“Regardless of how the studio does, though, I think the most important product that we could have out of this is the people, which is why I want to give especially Estelle and Alexa a good shot at finding work once they graduate.”

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A Studio with Purpose

While the name Sun Seal Studios came about during a casual brainstorming session between Cuartero and a friend, its meaning has grown with the team. For Cuartero, who immigrated to Canada in 2006, and for several of the studio members who belong to the 2SLGBTQIA+ and immigrant communities, the name symbolizes something deeper.

“For a long time, people like us have been told to hide our ‘sun’, to hide our light, to hide what value we can bring to the world,” Cuartero said. “But we want Sun Seal to be a safe haven – a place where we can create something outside of the shadows. A place where we can be seen.”

The studio also prides itself on being an empowering space for its members – where inclusion and opportunity are baked into its foundation. From securing contracts to building professional portfolios, Sun Seal is a launchpad not just for games, but for careers.

What’s Next?

With Beat Dodger nearing release, the team is already looking ahead. Their next major project – titled A Fish Tale – is a narrative-driven game based on a deeply personal story of love, loss, and healing. The game was recently approved for Futures Forward funding and will enter pre-production in mid-June.

“It’s a game about fishing with your dad, and the story follows a kid who loses their father and tries to complete the fishing list they made together,” Cuartero said.

“It’s a game that is very, very important to me and I thought that, because it’s so important, it can’t be the first game that we publish. There are too many things that we need to learn first. There are so many things that we need to get better at in order to give this game the effort and polish it deserves.”

To those ends, Cuartero said the studio plans to alternate between small, quick projects like Beat Dodger and the larger, more ambitious A Fish Tale – using early games to fund and inform the main one.

Cuartero is also hoping Beat Dodger becomes a stepping stone for more than just gameplay growth.

“I really want to use this to show what we’re capable of,” he said. “To help launch our team’s careers and to keep building games that matter.”

Beat Dodger launches on Friday, June 20 at 1 p.m. on Steam.