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 of the most memorable, though omitted, moments was the appearance of a "snake gun" – a weapon that literally fires serpents. "My teammate's kid asked if we could make a snake‑shooting gun," recalls Joe Dietsch, CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games. "We had a rapid‑scaling tool, so within half an hour I built it.
The kid was blown away, and the weapon stayed in the final build." That anecdote encapsulates the chaotic, over‑the‑top gameplay that Join Us promises: 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. It also highlights the studio’s tech‑first mindset, which has allowed a relatively tiny crew to produce a high‑fidelity title that would normally require a much larger staff.
"We set out to be disruptors," says Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer. "We told ourselves, ‘We don’t need a hundred people; twelve will do.’ Everyone else thought we were crazy." The team’s confidence stems from a history of achieving big results on modest budgets.
"Our background is indie filmmaking, where you learn to punch far above your weight," Abbott explains. After 80 pitches, Wolf Haus finally secured equity financing from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which took stakes in the studio.
The founders’ Hollywood connections run deep. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, who later co‑founded Wolf Haus and co‑wrote and co‑directed the indie films Happy Hunting and Manifest West. Abbott is the son of veteran makeup artist Larry Abbott and helped launch Ascendant Pictures, a production company started by Chris Roberts before his transition to the Star Citizen universe. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84 starring Jamie Foxx.
Join Us originated from Dietsch’s experiments in Unreal Engine. "Unreal was free to download, and I’d always loved games but felt there was a massive barrier to actually creating something," he says. He taught himself through YouTube tutorials, built a few small prototypes, and eventually gravitated toward a doomsday cult simulator concept that merged his love of survival games with grindhouse cinema. He crafted a proof‑of‑concept demo, ran into technical limits, and showed it to Abbott, who then introduced it to Dooma.
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 work for titles like 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 C$430 million (about $330 million USD). After the sale, Wendschuh bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, planning a quiet retirement.
Yet, a call from his old Hollywood‑Hills roommate Michael Abbott pulled him back into development. "I watched the demo Joe had built and it blew my mind, so I came out of retirement," Wendschuh recounts. Through Wendschuh’s network, the studio added strategic advisor Reid Schneider—former Warner Bros.
Games VP and now head of Raccoon Logic—and CTO Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, formerly of Ubisoft Montreal. With the core team in place, the next hurdle was funding, a daunting task given the industry downturn of 2023‑24. After initial outreach, Wolf Haus signed with CAA in Los Angeles, refined their pitch, and eventually closed a seed round with Lifelike Capital and Krafton.
The partnership with CAA, which also represents titles like 007: First Light, proved instrumental. "Derek Douglas, our agent at CAA, had been my agent during my twelve years in games and previously headed the video‑game department at William Morris," says Wendschuh.
Their combined pedigree helped the studio secure the capital needed to continue development. What truly sets Join Us apart is the way it is being built: a full‑scale, open‑world experience created by just thirteen full‑time staff members.
"We entered the project with a clear understanding of scope, but we also wanted a small‑team culture where everyone has a voice and contributes creatively," Dietsch explains. To make such an ambitious undertaking feasible, the studio invested heavily in custom tooling from day one. "Every system in the game must be scalable and debuggable by a single person," he notes. "We spent the first year ideating the game while simultaneously building the tools that would let us expand the world without the project collapsing under its own weight." The equity funding model gave Wolf Haus the runway to perfect these tools.
"Krafton and Lifelike’s investment has essentially self‑funded the game," says Wendschuh. "We’re now adding a modest amount of project finance for marketing, but development has been covered by their equity stakes." One of the most striking aspects of Wolf Haus’s approach is its deliberate avoidance of generative AI in the creative pipeline. While many studios are experimenting with AI‑generated assets, Wolf Haus has taken a firm stance against it. "We believe a game needs a human touch.
Hand‑crafting the experience is why we get up in the morning," Dietsch says. Wendschuh adds that the studio only uses AI for administrative tasks like calendar management and email drafting, never for art, writing, or voice work. Krafton, despite branding itself as an "AI‑first" company, also insisted that Wolf Haus not employ generative AI for core development, aligning with the studio’s philosophy. The commitment to handcrafted content extends to the game's massive six‑kilometre‑square map and its 15,000 voice lines, all recorded by human actors.
"Even as a tiny indie, we felt it was crucial to keep everything human‑made," Dietsch emphasizes. Dietsch also reflects on the differences between film and game creation. In film, an idea can take years to materialize, requiring approvals, casting, and extensive pre‑production. In contrast, a game concept can be prototyped within hours: "You can have an idea this morning, drop it into the engine, see it instantly, and start iterating.
That immediacy is exhilarating." Wendschuh notes that traditional filmmaking is front‑loaded with high‑stakes negotiations for a few marquee names, making it hard for a small, unknown project to break through. Games, however, have far fewer gatekeepers. "You don’t need an A‑list actor or director to get a game funded and released," he says. This democratization is a key reason why Wolf Haus believes a small team can succeed where a similarly sized film crew could not.
Both founders trace their passion back to childhood. "When I was six, I wanted to make either movies or games. It came down to a coin toss and getting a camera for Christmas," Dietsch recalls.
He taught himself programming on a TI‑83 calculator, blending his love for both mediums. "Whether you’re making a film or a game, you’re delivering an experience, telling a story, and engaging an audience. The core creative impulse is the same." In summary, Wolf Haus Games demonstrates that a blend of Hollywood heritage, savvy tech development, and disciplined financing can enable a twelve‑person team to produce a large‑scale, high‑quality game without relying on generative AI.
Their journey from a simple Unreal Engine experiment to a fully realized cult‑simulator showcases how small, focused teams can disrupt traditional development models and deliver unique, handcrafted experiences to players worldwide.