The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulator. In the preview, robed followers zip around on pig‑mounted platforms, firing machine guns, before the screen fades to a massive, Cthulhu‑like mass of tentacles. One element that didn’t make the final cut was the infamous "snake gun," a weapon that originated from a simple suggestion by a developer’s child. As Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, recounts, "My team member’s son asked, ‘Can there be a snake gun?’ We had a rapid‑prototyping tool that let us spin up a new weapon in about thirty minutes, so I built a gun that shoots snakes.
He was thrilled, and we kept it in the game." This anecdote captures the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us, an open‑world sandbox survival game where players can recruit AI followers or friends to join a 1970s‑style cult. The game’s development story is equally unconventional.
Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, describes the studio’s ambition as deliberately disruptive: "We told everyone we could build a AAA‑level experience with just twelve people. Most people laughed and said it was impossible." Their confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where small crews routinely punch far above their financial weight. After an arduous 80‑pitch marathon, the studio finally secured equity financing from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which now hold stakes in Wolf Haus. Wolf Haus’s leadership team is steeped in Hollywood pedigree.
Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, who co‑founded the studio 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 founded by Chris Roberts before his transition to Star Citizen. Abbott later produced films such as Fight for ’84 starring Jamie Foxx. This blend of cinematic experience and entrepreneurial grit informs the studio’s approach to game design.
Join Us began as a personal experiment in Unreal Engine. Dietsch explains, "I discovered that Unreal Engine could be downloaded for free, and I’d spent my life watching movies and playing games, but I always felt there was a huge barrier to actually creating something.
So I started learning from YouTube tutorials and built a few tiny prototypes." Although he had no formal training, Dietsch managed to craft a couple of simple games before deciding to tackle something larger: a doomsday cult simulator that merged his love of survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics. He built a proof‑of‑concept demo, showed it to Abbott, and the concept quickly attracted the attention of Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s chief financial officer and narrative director. Wendschuh’s career bridges film and interactive media.
He began as a producer and screenwriter before founding Sekretagent Productions, which supplied narrative work for titles such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins. In the 2010s he launched several tech ventures, most notably the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million). After selling Ebbu, he bought a remote island restaurant in Canada and thought he was retiring. Yet a chance phone call from his old Hollywood Hills roommate, Michael Abbott, pulled him back into the creative world.
"I watched the demo Joe had built and it completely blew my mind," Wendschuh says, prompting him to re‑enter the industry. Through Wendschuh’s network, Wolf Haus recruited Reid Schneider—former VP at Warner Bros. Games and now head of Raccoon Logic, the studio behind Journey to the Savage Planet—as a strategic advisor. Schneider, in turn, brought on Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a former Ubisoft Montreal programmer, to serve as chief technology officer.
By early 2023 the core team was solidified, but securing financing proved challenging amid a broader industry downturn. The studio pitched throughout the summer, eventually partnering with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation and landing a seed round from Lifelike Capital and Krafton in 2024.
The partnership with CAA, which also represents titles such as 007: First Light, proved instrumental. "Derek Douglas, our agent at CAA, had been my agent during my twelve‑year game‑development career and previously ran the video‑game department at William Morris," notes Wendschuh. This high‑profile support, combined with veteran advisors, helped Wolf Haus convince investors that a twelve‑person studio could deliver a large‑scale, high‑fidelity product. Wolf Haus’s development philosophy centers on tool‑building.
Dietsch explains, "If a system exists in the game, it must be scalable and debuggable by a single person. We invested heavily in a custom toolkit early on so that when the world expands, the project doesn’t collapse under its own weight." The first year of development was therefore split between ideating gameplay and constructing the internal tools that would enable the team to iterate quickly. This approach also aligns with the studio’s equity‑funded model: Krafton and Lifelike’s investments finance the game directly, allowing the team to focus on craftsmanship rather than constant fundraising. "Our investors want the studio to increase enterprise value, so they encourage us to build robust tools even if it slows short‑term progress," says Wendschuh.
In an industry increasingly buzzing about generative AI, Wolf Haus deliberately avoids it for creative work. "We don’t use generative AI for any part of the game’s design or art," Dietsch states. "We believe a human touch is essential; handing the creative process over to an algorithm would defeat why we get up in the morning." The studio does use AI‑powered services for mundane tasks like calendar management and email drafting, but not for content creation. Krafton, despite branding itself as an "AI‑first" company, also insisted that Wolf Haus refrain from using generative AI in development, mirroring a similar stance taken by Neon Giant, another Krafton‑owned studio.
The commitment to handcrafted content is evident in Join Us’s massive six‑kilometre‑square map, which was built entirely by hand, and the 15,000 voice lines recorded by professional actors. "Even as a small indie, we felt it was crucial that every line be performed by a human," Dietsch emphasizes. Dietsch also reflects on the differences between film and game production. In cinema, an idea can take years to materialize, requiring approvals, casting, and extensive pre‑production.
By contrast, a game concept can be prototyped in a single morning: "You can take an idea, drop it into the engine, see it instantly, and start iterating," he says, describing the exhilarating immediacy of interactive media. Wendschuh adds that film projects are heavily front‑loaded with high‑profile talent and studio gatekeeping, whereas games face far fewer barriers to entry. "You don’t need an A‑list actor or director to make a successful game; the market is more open," he notes. Both founders agree that storytelling is the core driver behind their work, regardless of medium.
"When I was six, I wanted to make either movies or games. It came down to a coin toss and a Christmas camera," Dietsch recalls.
"I learned to program on a TI‑83, so the passion has always been there. Whether you’re crafting a film or a game, you’re delivering an experience, telling a story, and engaging an audience. That fundamental goal doesn’t change." In summary, Wolf Haus exemplifies how a small, tightly knit team with Hollywood experience, savvy financing, and a commitment to custom tooling can produce an ambitious, high‑quality title without relying on generative AI.
Their upcoming cult simulator Join Us promises a blend of chaotic co‑op action, hand‑crafted world design, and a uniquely human creative voice—proof that size and technology trends are not the only paths to innovation in modern game development.