Dave Goel and COG Studios: Building an Indie Game Studio in Edmonton

From a university capstone project to a studio with international ambitions, COG Studios is building something real in Edmonton's game development scene.

When Dave Goel started his computer science degree at the University of Alberta, he had a practical career in mind. But creativity kept pulling him in a different direction.

"I was trying to decide between music and computer science," he says. "The video game certificate at the U of A let me do both—stay creative while still coding."

That decision set everything in motion. In 2024, Goel and a group of classmates turned a school project into something they didn't want to walk away from. The Trailhead Program gave them a path forward.

"Trailhead gave us a pathway from being a student project to becoming a true studio," Goel says. "It's the reason COG exists."

Finding Their Footing

Through Trailhead, COG received mentorship from Caldera Interactive, an Edmonton-based indie studio that had navigated the same early stages not long before. That connection gave the team practical guidance on what it actually takes to build and ship a game.

The program also supported COG in showcasing their game, Infernal Blood Rush, at Game Con Canada—their first time presenting work to a real audience.

"Seeing people actually play and enjoy our game made us realize this could be more than a school project," Goel says.

Building Toward the Global Stage

COG Studios is among the 2026 recipients of the Summit Push Program. You can read the full recipient announcement here. This year, the program will bring a cohort of local indie studios to North American Games Industry Summit (NAGIS) and Game Con Canada in Edmonton this June, and to Gamescom in Cologne, Germany in August, the largest gaming convention in the world.

For a team that started as a university project less than two years ago, being selected alongside fellow local studios and gaining direct access to international publishers, investors, and content creators reflects how much ground they've covered in a short time.

What's Next

COG Studios now has five team members and a planned 2026 release for their next title, Our Eyes See No Evil, which the studio will be showcasing at NAGIS and Game Con Canada this June as part of the Summit Push Program. The goal isn't just to ship games. It's to build a studio with staying power in Edmonton's creative economy.

Their story is still early, but the foundation is in place.