The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult‑sim set in an open‑world sandbox. The teaser showed robed followers riding on pigs, wielding machine guns, and culminated in a shot of colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One element that didn’t make the final cut was the infamous snake‑gun, a quirky weapon that Joe Dietsch, the chief executive officer and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, says was inspired by a child’s off‑hand suggestion.
"My team member’s son asked, ‘What would a snake‑gun look like?’ We had a rapid‑prototyping tool that let us spin up a new firearm in roughly thirty minutes, so I built one that actually fires snakes. The kid went wild, and we kept it in the game," Dietsch recounts. This anecdote encapsulates the chaotic, over‑the‑top gameplay that Join Us promises: a 70s‑style cult you can expand by recruiting NPC followers or friends in co‑op mode, all while navigating a world that feels simultaneously absurd and menacing.
What makes the project even more remarkable is the way the tiny Wolf Haus team has tackled such an ambitious scope. Michael Abbott, the studio’s chief operating officer, explains that the developers set out to be “disruptors.” "We told everyone we could deliver a AAA‑level experience with just twelve people. Most people laughed and said it was impossible," Abbott says. Their confidence stems from a history of punching far above their weight in the indie film world, where limited budgets are the norm.
After a grueling 80‑pitch marathon, the studio finally secured equity funding from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, giving the project a solid financial footing. The founders’ Hollywood pedigree runs deep. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, the son of Mel Gibson, who later co‑founded Wolf Haus and 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 originally founded by Chris Roberts before he moved on to Star Citizen.
Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx. Join Us began as a personal experiment in Unreal Engine. "I discovered that Unreal Engine could be downloaded for free, and that removed a huge barrier for someone like me who loved games but had no formal training," Dietsch explains. He taught himself the engine through YouTube tutorials, built a few tiny prototypes, and eventually settled on the concept of a doomsday cult simulator—a blend of survival mechanics, grindhouse cinema aesthetics, and the narrative freedom that only games can provide.
The initial proof‑of‑concept was a rough, sandbox‑style demo that Dietsch showed to Abbott, who then presented it to Dooma, a partner studio. Dooma’s CFO and narrative director, Dooma Wendschuh, entered the picture after a long career as a film producer and screenwriter, later transitioning to games by founding Sekretagent Productions. Sekretagent supplied narrative work for titles such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins. In the 2010s, Wendschuh also founded a cannabis formulation company, Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (about $330 million USD).
After selling his cannabis venture, Wendschuh bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire and spend his days walking his dog on the beach. That plan was derailed when an old Hollywood‑hill roommate, Michael Abbott, called and said a friend had built a video game. Curious, Wendschuh watched the early demo and was instantly hooked, prompting him to come out of retirement and help steer the project toward completion. Wendschuh recruited Reid Schneider—formerly a vice‑president at Warner Bros.
Games and now head of Raccoon Logic, the studio behind Journey to the Savage Planet—to act as a strategic advisor. Schneider, in turn, brought on Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a veteran programmer from Ubisoft Montreal, as Wolf Haus’s chief technology officer. With this core leadership in place, the studio turned its attention to financing.
The timing proved challenging. By the summer of 2023, the industry was already experiencing a downturn, making investors wary. "People liked what we were building, but it was a tough market," says Dietsch. The team enlisted the representation of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles, leveraging long‑standing relationships—Wendschuh’s former agent Derek Douglas had represented him during his twelve‑year game‑development stint and previously headed the video‑game department at William Morris.
Through CAA’s network and the credibility added by veterans like Schneider and Chartrand, Wolf Haus eventually closed a seed round with Lifelike Capital and Krafton. The investors took equity stakes, allowing the studio to self‑fund development while reserving a modest amount of project finance for marketing later on.
A key to achieving AAA‑grade ambition with a micro‑team was the early investment in custom tooling. "Every system we build must be scalable and debuggable by a single developer," Dietsch explains. The studio spent the first year simultaneously designing gameplay concepts and engineering the internal toolchain that would keep the open‑world map from collapsing under its own weight. This approach means that whenever the team encounters a technical roadblock, they simply create a bespoke tool to solve it—an iterative process that slows raw development speed but dramatically expands what a small team can accomplish.
The funding arrangement also reinforced this philosophy. Because Krafton and Lifelike are equity partners, they are motivated to see Wolf Haus increase its enterprise value, which translates into support for extensive tool development.
"We can afford to build a tool for every problem, even if it adds overhead," says Wendschuh. "That’s how we can produce a game of this scale with only a handful of people." When asked about the role of generative AI—a hot topic in game development—Dietsch gives a blunt answer: the studio does not use it for creative work.
"We believe a human touch is essential. Hand‑crafting the experience is why we get up in the morning," he says. Wendschuh adds that the studio’s only AI usage is for mundane tasks like calendar management and email drafting; none of the game’s art, design, or narrative is generated by AI.
Krafton, despite branding itself as an “AI‑first” company, explicitly required Wolf Haus to avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline. This stance mirrors that of Neon Giant, another Krafton‑owned studio that publicly denied involvement in the parent company’s AI pivot. Both studios emphasize preserving jobs for voice actors, artists, and other creatives. Indeed, Join Us boasts a six‑kilometre‑square map that is entirely handcrafted, and its 15,000 voice lines were recorded by real actors—not synthetic voices.
Dietsch stresses that this level of human craftsmanship is a point of pride, even for an indie‑scale operation. Transitioning from film to games, Dietsch notes the immediacy of interactive media. In cinema, an idea can take years to materialise—screenplays are written, green‑lit, shot, edited, and finally released.
In contrast, a game concept can be prototyped within hours: "You can have an idea at breakfast, drop it into the engine, and see it instantly. That immediacy is exhilarating." Wendschuh observes that film production is heavily front‑loaded, requiring the attachment of high‑profile talent before a project can secure financing. While anyone can shoot a backyard movie, breaking through without star power or a distribution deal is rare. Games, however, have far fewer gatekeepers; a small team can reach a global audience without needing A‑list names.
This democratization is a core reason why Wolf Haus believes it can succeed with a lean roster. Both founders trace their passion back to childhood. Dietsch recalls wanting to make either movies or games at age six, a decision that ultimately hinged on receiving a camera for Christmas. He taught himself programming on a TI‑83 calculator, laying the groundwork for a career that now straddles both mediums.
"Whether you’re making a film or a game, you’re delivering an experience, telling a story, and engaging an audience. The tools change, but the creative impulse stays the same," he concludes.
In summary, Join Us represents a bold experiment: a high‑budget‑looking cult simulator built by a team the size of a small indie studio, powered by custom tools, backed by strategic investors who value human‑crafted content, and deliberately shunning generative AI in favor of authentic, hand‑made artistry. The result is a game that promises both the absurdity of a cult‑themed sandbox and the meticulous polish typically reserved for far larger development houses.