The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulator where robed followers ride pigs, fire machine guns, and eventually confront massive Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One of the most memorable—and absurd—moments that didn’t make the final cut was the appearance of a snake‑shooting weapon, a feature that originated from a simple suggestion by a developer’s child. Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, recounted, “My team member’s son asked, ‘Can there be a snake gun?’ We had a rapid‑prototyping tool that let us build a fully functional weapon in about thirty minutes. It was a hit with the kid, and it stayed in the game.” That anecdote captures the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us.
The game is an open‑world sandbox survival experience set in a 1970s‑style cult, where players can recruit AI‑controlled followers or invite friends to join their cause in co‑op mode. The design philosophy is deliberately wild, encouraging players to experiment with bizarre weapons, strange rituals, and an ever‑expanding map that feels both eerie and satirical. What makes the project even more remarkable is the way Wolf Haus has tackled such an ambitious vision with a remarkably small crew.
Michael Abbott, the studio’s chief operating officer, summed up the team’s mindset: “We wanted to be disruptors. We told everyone we could build a high‑fidelity, large‑scale game with just twelve people. Most people laughed and said it was impossible.” Their confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where limited budgets force creators to punch far above their weight. Abbott’s experience includes work on Ascendant Pictures—founded by Chris Roberts before his Star Citizen venture—and producing movies like Fight for ’84 starring Jamie Foxx.
This film‑industry pedigree gave the team a knack for maximizing resources and delivering cinematic quality on a shoestring. Wolf Haus’s path to funding was long and winding. After 80 pitches, they finally secured equity investment 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, and the two later co‑wrote and co‑directed indie films such as Happy Hunting and Manifest West.
Abbott is the son of renowned makeup artist Larry Abbott and helped launch Ascendant Pictures, while Dooma Wendschuh—Wolf Haus’s chief financial officer and narrative director—started his career as a screenwriter and producer before moving into game development in the early 2000s. Wendschuh founded Sekretagent Productions, providing narrative work for titles like Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins, and later built a cannabis‑formulation company that sold for roughly C$430 million.
Wendschuh’s story took an unexpected turn when he retired to a remote Canadian island, only to be pulled back into the industry by an old Hollywood‑hill roommate, Michael Abbott. After reviewing a prototype that Dietsch had cobbled together in Unreal Engine—an engine he discovered was free to download and learned to wield through YouTube tutorials—Wendschuh was impressed enough to re‑enter the fray.
He introduced the project to Reid Schneider, a former Warner Bros. Games vice‑president now heading Raccoon Logic, and together they recruited Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a veteran programmer from Ubisoft Montreal, as chief technology officer. Securing financing proved challenging in a market downturn that began in 2023.
Initial pitches generated interest but not commitment. The studio eventually partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation, which opened doors to strategic advisors and helped land the seed round with Krafton and Lifelike Capital in 2024. Abbott notes that CAA’s roster—including titles like 007: First Light—provided credibility, while veteran agents such as Derek Douglas, who previously represented Wendschuh during his twelve‑year game‑making career, added further industry clout. Despite the high‑profile backing, the development team remains intentionally small—thirteen full‑time staff members.
Dietsch explains that the goal was to keep the project intimate, ensuring every voice could influence the creative direction. To make such a scope feasible, the studio invested heavily in custom tooling from the outset. "If a system exists in the game, it must be scalable and debuggable by a single person," he says.
This philosophy meant that a significant portion of the first year was spent building the very tools that would later enable the open‑world map, dynamic AI, and the myriad weapons that define Join Us. The equity funding model gave Wolf Haus the runway to perfect these tools without the pressure of external milestones.
Krafton and Lifelike’s capital was used to self‑fund the development, with only a modest amount of project finance earmarked for marketing. This structure aligns the investors’ interests with the studio’s long‑term value creation, encouraging the team to continue building reusable tools even when they slow immediate progress. In an industry increasingly enamored with generative AI, Wolf Haus has taken a clear stance: they do not employ AI for any creative aspects of the game. "We believe a human touch is essential," Dietsch asserts.
"Using an AI to generate art, dialogue, or design would defeat the purpose of why we get up every morning to make games." Wendschuh adds that while the studio may use AI for mundane tasks like calendar management, it never touches the creative pipeline. Interestingly, Krafton—publicly positioning itself as an "AI‑first" company—specifically required Wolf Haus to avoid generative AI in its production, mirroring similar policies at Krafton‑owned Neon Giant.
All voice work in Join Us is performed by human actors, and the six‑kilometre‑square map is handcrafted, underscoring the studio’s commitment to artisanal craftsmanship. Dietsch contrasts the immediacy of game development with the lengthy, gate‑kept process of filmmaking. In movies, an idea can take years to secure financing, talent, and distribution before it ever sees a set. In games, an inspiration can be prototyped within hours, tested in the engine, and iterated upon the same day.
This rapid feedback loop fuels the team’s enthusiasm and allows them to experiment without the bureaucratic delays that plague Hollywood. Wendschuh observes that while film production is front‑loaded with intense, high‑stakes set work and reliance on star power, games democratize creation. "Anyone can rent a camera and shoot a backyard movie, but without big names or distribution, the odds of success are slim.
In games, the barriers are lower; you don’t need an A‑list actor or director to reach an audience," he explains. Both mediums, however, share a common creative impulse: the desire to tell stories and deliver experiences.
Dietsch reflects on his childhood fascination with both film and games, noting that his early programming on a TI‑83 calculator laid the groundwork for a career that could have swung either way. "Whether you’re making a movie or a game, you’re crafting an experience, telling a story, and engaging an audience.
The tools may differ, but the heart of the work remains the same," he concludes. In summary, Join Us stands as a testament to what a tight‑knit, technically savvy team can achieve when they blend Hollywood storytelling, indie‑film resourcefulness, and a refusal to rely on generative AI. With a quirky premise, a hand‑crafted world, and a philosophy that prizes human creativity above all, Wolf Haus is poised to deliver a cult classic that could redefine the possibilities for small‑studio game development.