The trailer for Join Us first caught the public’s eye during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulation. In the teaser, robed followers ride pig‑back while brandishing machine guns, culminating in a dramatic shot of colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One element that didn’t make the final cut was the infamous "snake gun," a quirky weapon that emerged from a simple family conversation, according to Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games. "My teammate’s son asked, ‘What if there was a snake‑shooter?’" Dietsch recalls.
"Because we built a modular gun system, I could prototype a snake‑firing weapon in roughly half an hour. The kid went wild, and we kept it in the game." That anecdote encapsulates the chaotic, sandbox‑style gameplay at the heart of Join Us. Players can build a 1970s‑inspired cult, recruit followers—or invite friends in co‑op—to expand their influence across an open‑world map.
It also illustrates the studio’s technology‑first mindset, which has enabled a high‑fidelity experience to be produced by a remarkably small team. Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, summed up the ambition: "We wanted to be disruptors.
We told everyone we could deliver a AAA‑level title with just twelve people. Most people thought we were crazy." The team’s confidence stems from a history of achieving big results on shoestring budgets. "We come from indie film backgrounds, so we’re used to punching well above our weight," Abbott says.
After 80 pitch meetings, the studio finally secured equity funding from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which took minority stakes in Wolf Haus. Wolf Haus’s leadership is steeped in Hollywood pedigree. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson—son of Mel Gibson—and the two later co‑wrote and co‑directed the indie features Happy Hunting and Manifest West.
Abbott is the son of veteran makeup artist Larry Abbott and helped launch Ascendant Pictures, the production company founded by Chris Roberts before his Star Citizen venture. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx. Join Us originated from Dietsch’s early experiments in Unreal Engine.
"Unreal was free to download, and I’d always loved games but felt blocked from creating anything myself," he explains. He taught himself the engine through YouTube tutorials, eventually building a few small prototypes.
The concept that persisted was a doomsday cult simulator that fused survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics—a hybrid that could serve as a unique intellectual property. The proof‑of‑concept was deliberately built to test the limits of the studio’s tools. "I pushed it as far as I could, expecting to hit a technical wall at some point," Dietsch says.
When he showed the demo to Abbott, the latter recognized its potential and presented it to Dooma, a partner that helped move the project forward. Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s CFO and narrative director, brings a mixed background of film production, game writing, and tech entrepreneurship. Early in his career he wrote for titles such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins through his studio Sekretagent Productions. Later, he founded the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (about $330 million USD).
After the sale, Wendschuh bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire. A chance call from his old Hollywood roommate, Michael Abbott, pulled him back into development when he saw Dietsch’s demo and was instantly impressed. Wendschuh then recruited Reid Schneider—former Warner Bros.
Games vice president and now head of Raccoon Logic, the studio behind Journey to the Savage Planet—as a strategic advisor. Schneider also brought in Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a former Ubisoft Montreal programmer, to serve as chief technology officer. With this core in place, the studio turned its focus to financing, a daunting task given the broader industry downturn in 2023. After initial outreach and a partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Wolf Haus secured seed funding from Lifelike Capital and Krafton in 2024.
The backing from CAA, which also represents titles like 007: First Light, proved crucial, as did the credibility added by veteran advisors Schneider and Chartrand. "Derek Douglas, our CAA agent, had represented me for twelve years in the games world and previously headed the video‑game department at William Morris," Wendschuh notes. Despite the high ambitions, the studio has remained lean—just thirteen full‑time staff members. Dietsch emphasizes that this small‑team approach is intentional: "We wanted everyone to have a voice, to touch the creative process, and to feel ownership over the final product." To make such a sprawling open‑world game feasible with limited manpower, Wolf Haus invested heavily in custom tooling from day one.
"Any system in the game must be scalable and debuggable by a single developer," Dietsch explains. The first year of development was split between ideating gameplay and building the underlying toolchain that would keep the project from collapsing under its own weight. This tool‑centric philosophy also aligns with the studio’s equity‑funded model. "Krafton and Lifelike are equity partners, and their investment has essentially self‑funded the game," says Wendschuh.
While a modest amount of project finance is being used for marketing, the core development has been covered by the equity capital. This arrangement incentivizes the investors to see the studio increase its enterprise value, which in turn encourages the team to keep building reusable tools rather than taking shortcuts.
When asked about the role of generative AI—a hot topic in game development—both Dietsch and Wendschuh were unequivocal: the studio does not rely on AI for creative work. "We believe a human touch is essential. Using an AI to generate assets would defeat why we get up every morning," Dietsch says.
Wendschuh adds that the only AI services they employ are mundane productivity tools for calendar management and email drafting. Krafton’s stance mirrors this philosophy. Although the Korean publisher has recently branded itself as an "AI‑first" company, it explicitly required Wolf Haus to avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline.
This mirrors similar statements from Krafton‑owned Neon Giant, which publicly distanced itself from the parent’s AI pivot. The studio’s commitment to handcrafted content extends to the game’s massive six‑kilometer‑square map and its 15,000 voice lines, all recorded by human actors. "Even as a tiny indie, we felt it was vital to keep everything hand‑made," Dietsch asserts.
Dietsch also reflects on the differences between film and interactive media. In cinema, an idea can take years to materialize, requiring countless approvals and the involvement of high‑profile talent. In games, the feedback loop is immediate: "You can have an idea this morning, drop it into the engine, and see it in action within hours. That immediacy is exhilarating." Wendschuh observes that film production is heavily front‑loaded, with intense, high‑stakes set work that depends on securing A‑list directors or actors to get green‑lit.
While anyone can technically shoot a backyard movie, breaking through without star power or distribution is rare. By contrast, the video‑game market has far fewer gatekeepers, making it easier for a small, passionate team to reach a global audience without celebrity backing. Both men agree that the core creative drive is the same across mediums: to tell a story, craft an experience, and engage an audience.
Dietsch recounts that as a child he was torn between making movies or games, a decision that ultimately hinged on whether he received a camera for Christmas. He learned programming on a TI‑83 calculator, and that early fascination has informed his career ever since. In summary, Wolf Haus’s journey demonstrates how a blend of Hollywood experience, savvy entrepreneurship, and a relentless focus on bespoke tooling can enable a small team to produce a large‑scale, high‑quality game without leaning on generative AI. Their upcoming title, Join Us, promises a wildly original cult‑sim experience that reflects the studio’s unique heritage and its determination to disrupt conventional development models.