When Thom Korbel was younger, he was all about technology. The more technology he could get his hands on, the better. He was always someone who was tinkering away at various things -- computers, various electronics, cars, you name it and Thom was messing around with it. And that was really what he did with his time; he was a kid who grew up as technology did, and that put him at a great advantage. What also put him at an advantage was that his father was Dan Korbel, the owner and creator of Korbel Industries, a technology company that focused on research and development of anything that could make the world a better place. And what better place for Thom to get his brain working? He would join his father Dan at the company when he was a kid, and tried to learn everything that he could; that helped Thom learn more than he ever could have learned from books.

Of course that didn't mean that he wasn't trying to learn while he was in school either. In fact, intelligence was not something that he lacked, and eventually he found himself taking college classes before he had even really gotten a month into his junior year of high school, and ended up getting into college far sooner than expected. His collegiate career was a good one, landing him three degrees in Physics, English Literature, and Theoretical Mathematics; making him a great hit at parties. That's a lie, and complete sarcasm: he wasn't a great hit at parties, and the ladies didn't exactly flock to him, so he was sort of shooting himself in the foot when it came to that whole business. While Thom always took comfort in coding, hacking, technology, engineering...when it came to human connections he wasn't always great at it.

Sometimes, his inability to connect with anyone brought on a heavy feeling in his chest, something that grew and festered with time. This was depression, and he was diagnosed when he was 23 after getting all his degrees at way too early of an age. Though diagnosed, he didn't feel great about it, and started overeating, which lead to weight and self-esteem issues. Thom found himself in a complete spiral, and it's one that he still gets into now and then, but he knows the signs now. It took a while to get himself into shape and get back into where he wanted to be in his life, but Thom found that when he was healthier and taking care of himself, he felt better. Of course, getting out into the world is no real solution to depression, and he still takes anti-depressants to combat it, and does his best to keep himself in check. Due to his disposition now, very few know that Thom suffers from clinical depression, and he actually prefers to keep it that way.

But while he was trying to fight his way out of feeling low, he started to build something. Technology was always something he loved, and combined with his love of video games, Thom found he had an outlet. This lead to creating games, publishing them, and while they were slow to start people actually started to play his games, and pretty regularly too. And when word spread that people were streaming themselves playing video games...he decided to try too. Soon, Thom Korbel had made a business name out of himself and it was pretty weird to think that he had a brand on himself, but his father reminded him that was pretty much what Korbel Industries was.

Focusing on game development and design, and the occasional streaming, Thom found that without even realizing it, he had managed to find his own little place in the world for him that he had never expected. Gaming had always been an escape for him as a kid, but never expected it to be something he could make a life out of as an adult. Yet, here he was, doing exactly that. Within a few years of publishing and making his own game, Thom started his own gaming company called Beetle Games, naming it after his favorite insect as a kid and the fact that beetles always seemed so resourceful to him (even if it wasn't true at all).

With Beetle Games being created and taking off, Thom had been asked to come back to his father's company, to possibly bring his gaming company into the fold. While Thom appreciated the gesture, he opted against it, liking that he managed to create his own thing separate from his father; though he did agree to sit on the board and it is understood that if anything were to happen to Thom's father, Thom would step in as Chief Executive Officer until someone else could take control. But, as that hasn't happened yet and Dan is in perfect health...they do make sure there is a company softball game, where the developers and designers of Korbel Industries compete against the team at Beetle Games, because what's a little competition between family?

Of course being too involved with work doesn't give a great work/life balance, but Thom does his best to make do. He plays games most of his free time, he spends a lot of time working out and designing new games, and when he has the chance, he always hits up a convention or two. (Then there's the three different RPG games that he's in at the moment, but those are only for those who need to know.) Dating hasn't always been a priority for him, not because he's too awkward with women now -- he outgrew that phase years ago -- it's that it's just something he hasn't always had the time for. But when he meets the right person and they connect, he will do his best to keep that connection going, and this goes for all aspects of relationships platonic or otherwise. Because Thom knows at the end of the day he's only as strong as the people who help him and keep him grounded along the way, and no one really likes to be alone.