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 zip around on pigs, unleash a barrage of machine‑gun fire, and eventually confront colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One of the most memorable—and bizarre—moments that didn’t make the final cut was the appearance of a "snake gun," a weapon that literally fires serpents.
According to Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, the idea originated from a casual conversation with his child. "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 weapon in roughly thirty minutes, so I built it on the spot.
The kid was blown away, and the gun stayed in the game," Dietsch recounts. This anecdote perfectly captures the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us, an open‑world sandbox survival experience that lets players recruit followers—or friends in co‑op mode—to join a 1970s‑style cult. The game’s wild mechanics are only one side of the story; the other is the studio’s decidedly tech‑first philosophy, which has enabled a high‑fidelity title to be crafted by a remarkably small crew. Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, explains the team’s mindset: "We set out to be disruptors.
Everyone told us a twelve‑person studio couldn’t produce a AAA‑level game, but we were determined to prove them wrong." Their confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where they learned to stretch limited budgets far beyond the usual constraints. After an arduous 80‑pitch marathon, the studio finally secured equity investment from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, giving the project the financial runway it needed. The founders’ Hollywood pedigree runs 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 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 his transition to the Star Citizen universe. Abbott later produced films such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx, further cementing the team’s cinematic credentials.
Join Us began as a personal experiment in Unreal Engine. "Unreal was free to download, and I’d always felt there was a massive barrier to actually building a game," Dietsch says. He taught himself the engine through YouTube tutorials, eventually creating a handful of small prototypes before committing to a larger vision: a doomsday cult simulator that melds survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics.
The initial proof‑of‑concept was rough but intriguing enough for Abbott to present it to Dooma, a publishing partner that helped move the project forward. Key to the studio’s success is Dooma’s CFO and narrative director, Dooma Wendschuh, whose career straddles both film and games. After producing and writing for movies, he founded Sekretagent Productions, providing narrative services for titles like Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins. He later built several tech ventures, including the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million.
After a brief retirement on a remote Canadian island, a call from his old Hollywood‑hills roommate Michael Abbott pulled him back into the industry. Impressed by Dietsch’s demo, Wendschuh joined the effort, bringing in veteran game executive Reid Schneider (formerly of Warner Bros. Games) as a strategic advisor and recruiting Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, an ex‑Ubisoft Montreal programmer, as chief technology officer. Funding proved to be the next major hurdle.
The studio began pitching in the summer of 2023, a period marked by a pronounced industry downturn. Despite the challenging climate, the team’s pitch deck generated interest, especially after they partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles. CAA’s representation, which also covers titles like 007: First Light, opened doors to investors who appreciated the team’s pedigree and technical ambition.
Ultimately, seed capital arrived from Lifelike Capital and Krafton, allowing Wolf Haus to continue development without compromising its vision. Wolf Haus deliberately kept its headcount low—13 full‑time staff at the time of writing—to preserve a tight‑knit, collaborative culture. "Everyone has a voice, everyone touches the creative side, and the game feels like a product of a single, cohesive group," says Dietsch.
To make a sprawling open‑world game feasible with such a lean roster, the studio invested heavily in custom tooling from day one. "Any system we build must be scalable and debuggable by a single person," Dietsch explains. The first year of development was therefore split between ideating gameplay features and constructing the underlying toolset that would keep the project from collapsing under its own weight as the world expanded. The equity‑funded model gave Wolf Haus the breathing room to perfect these tools.
Krafton and Lifelike’s investment was used directly to finance development, with the studio later seeking modest project‑finance for marketing purposes. "Our investors are motivated to increase the studio’s enterprise value, so they support our tool‑building ethos," notes Wendschuh. Whenever a technical roadblock appears, the team simply creates a bespoke tool to solve it, accepting a slower overall pace in exchange for the ability to deliver a complex experience with a small team. In an era where many developers tout generative‑AI shortcuts, Wolf Haus has taken a clear stance against using AI for creative work.
"We don’t employ generative AI in any artistic capacity," Dietsch says. "Our process relies on human intuition and craftsmanship; outsourcing that to an algorithm would defeat the purpose of why we love making games." Wendschuh adds that the studio only uses AI for mundane tasks like calendar management and email drafting.
Interestingly, Krafton—despite branding itself as an "AI‑first" company—explicitly required Wolf Haus to avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline, mirroring similar positions taken by other Krafton‑owned studios such as Neon Giant. The commitment to human‑generated content extends to the game’s massive map and voice work.
The six‑kilometre‑square world of Join Us was hand‑crafted, and the 15,000 voice lines were recorded by real actors, not synthetic voices. "That level of authenticity matters to us, even as a small indie studio," Dietsch emphasizes. Dietsch also reflects on the differences between film and game creation. In film, an idea can take years to materialise, requiring countless approvals and the involvement of high‑profile talent before a camera ever rolls.
By contrast, a game idea can be prototyped within hours, allowing creators to see immediate results in the engine. "You can have an idea at breakfast and test it by lunch," he says, highlighting the immediacy that fuels his passion for interactive media. Wendschuh points out that traditional filmmaking is heavily front‑loaded: securing a star director or actor is often the gatekeeper to greenlighting a project.
While anyone can technically shoot a backyard movie, breaking through without established names is rare. Games, however, have far fewer gatekeepers, making it easier for small teams to achieve commercial success without A‑list talent. Both founders agree that the core creative impulse—telling stories and delivering experiences—remains the same across mediums.
"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. He learned programming on a TI‑83 calculator, blending technical curiosity with narrative ambition. Whether through film or interactive entertainment, the goal is to craft an engaging narrative that resonates with an audience, a principle that continues to drive Wolf Haus as they bring Join Us to life.