The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous co‑op cult simulator where robed followers zip around on pigs, unleash machine‑guns, and eventually confront colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One detail that didn’t make the final cut was the infamous snake‑gun, a quirky weapon that Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, says was born from a simple request from a team member’s child. “The kid asked, ‘Can there be a snake gun?’ We had a rapid‑prototyping tool that lets us scale a weapon in minutes, so I threw together a snake‑shooting gun in about half an hour.
It blew his mind, and we kept it in the game,” Dietsch recalls. This anecdote captures the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us, an open‑world sandbox survival experience where players can recruit followers—or invite friends in co‑op mode—to build a 1970s‑style cult empire.
The game’s wild design is matched by the studio’s equally unconventional production philosophy. Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, explains that the team set out to be “disruptors.” “We told everyone, ‘We don’t need a hundred‑person studio; twelve talented people can do it.’ Most people laughed and said it was impossible.” Their confidence stems from a background in low‑budget indie filmmaking, where punching above one’s weight is the norm. After 80 pitch meetings, Wolf Haus finally secured equity financing from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which took stakes in the studio.
Wolf Haus’s founding trio brings deep Hollywood credentials. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, who now co‑founder of the studio. Together they 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 transition to Star Citizen. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84 starring Jamie Foxx. The genesis of Join Us can be traced back to Dietsch’s early experiments with Unreal Engine. “Unreal was free to download, and I’d always loved games but felt there was a huge barrier to creating my own,” he says.
He taught himself the engine through YouTube tutorials, eventually building a handful of small prototypes. One concept kept resurfacing: a doomsday cult simulator that merged survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics. This idea evolved into a proof‑of‑concept demo that Dietsch showed to Abbott, who then presented it to Dooma, a partner studio. Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s CFO and narrative director, began his career as a film producer and screenwriter before moving into games in the early 2000s.
He founded Sekretagent Productions, providing narrative services for titles such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins. Later, he launched several tech ventures, most notably the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million).
After that windfall, Wendschuh bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire. “Just when I thought I was out, Hollywood called,” he laughs.
A former roommate, Michael Abbott, reached out with a video of Joe’s game prototype. “It blew my mind and pulled me back from retirement.” Wendschuh then introduced the project to Reid Schneider, a former Warner Bros.
Games vice‑president now heading Raccoon Logic, the creators of Journey to the Savage Planet. Schneider joined as a strategic advisor and recruited Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a veteran Ubisoft Montreal programmer, to serve as chief technology officer. With the core team assembled, the next hurdle was funding—an especially tough task during the industry downturn of 2023‑24. Initial pitches generated polite interest but no commitments.
After enlisting the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles, the studio relaunched its fundraising effort in 2024, eventually closing a seed round with Lifelike Capital and Krafton. Wendschuh credits the CAA connection, as well as the presence of seasoned game veterans, for opening doors that might otherwise have remained shut. Despite the high‑profile backing, Join Us is being built by a remarkably lean crew—13 full‑time staff members.
Dietsch emphasizes that the small size is intentional: “We wanted a studio where every voice matters, where everyone touches the creative process, and where the final product feels like the work of a tight‑knit group.” To make a large, high‑fidelity open world feasible with such a limited headcount, the team invested heavily in custom tooling from the outset. “Our philosophy is that any system in the game must be scalable and debuggable by a single person,” Dietsch explains. “We spent the first year simultaneously designing gameplay and engineering the tools that would let us expand those systems across a six‑kilometre‑square map without the project collapsing under its own weight.” This tool‑centric approach, funded entirely by equity partners, allowed the studio to self‑finance development while reserving a modest amount of project finance for marketing later on.
Both Dietsch and Wendschuh are vocal about their stance on generative AI. While many studios tout AI‑assisted asset creation, Wolf Haus deliberately avoids it for creative work. “We believe a game needs a human touch,” Dietsch says. “Using AI to generate core content would defeat the reason we get up every morning.” Wendschuh adds that the studio’s AI subscriptions are limited to mundane tasks like calendar management and email drafting, never to art, design, or writing.
Interestingly, Krafton—an “AI‑first” company—insisted that Wolf Haus remain AI‑free in its creative pipeline, mirroring a similar stance taken by Krafton‑owned Neon Giant. The commitment to handcrafted content extends to the game’s massive map and voice work. The entire six‑kilometre‑square world was built by hand, and all 15,000 voice lines were recorded by human actors, a point the team stresses as a badge of pride for an indie studio. Dietsch reflects on the differences between filmmaking and game development, noting that games offer a immediacy that film lacks.
In cinema, an idea can sit on a script for years before it ever sees a set, and countless approvals are required before production begins. By contrast, a game concept can be prototyped in a single morning, placed into the engine, and instantly visualized. This rapid feedback loop fuels the studio’s creative energy.
Wendschuh observes that film production is heavily front‑loaded, with intense, high‑budget set work that depends on securing a handful of A‑list talent to obtain studio approval. While anyone can technically shoot a movie with a consumer‑grade camera, the odds of breaking through without established names or distribution channels are slim. Games, however, have far fewer gatekeepers; a small team can release a polished product directly to players without needing celebrity endorsement. Both founders agree that the core motivation behind movies and games is the same: to craft an experience, tell a story, and engage an audience.
Dietsch recalls that as a six‑year‑old he wanted to make either movies or games, and a simple coin toss—plus receiving a camera for Christmas—set him on his path. He learned programming on a TI‑83 calculator, blending technical curiosity with a love for narrative. In summary, Wolf Haus’s Join Us exemplifies how a small, Hollywood‑savvy team can leverage bespoke tools, disciplined funding, and a staunch commitment to human‑crafted content to produce an ambitious, high‑quality title without relying on generative AI.
The studio’s journey—from a free Unreal Engine download to a funded, equity‑backed venture—demonstrates that with the right mix of talent, tenacity, and technology, a dozen passionate creators can indeed build a game that rivals productions from far larger studios.