The trailer for Join Us first appeared at the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulator. In the clip, robed followers zip around on pigs while firing machine guns, culminating in a shot of massive, Cthulhu‑like tentacles.
What didn’t make the final cut was the infamous "snake gun," a weapon that Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, says was born from a child’s off‑hand suggestion. "One of our team member’s son asked, ‘What would a snake gun look like?’ We had a rapid‑prototyping tool, so within thirty minutes I built a gun that actually shoots snakes. He was thrilled, and it stayed in the game," Dietsch recalls. That anecdote captures the chaotic, over‑the‑top gameplay that Join Us promises: an open‑world sandbox 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 technology‑first philosophy, which has enabled a high‑fidelity, large‑scale experience to be produced by a surprisingly small crew. Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, summed up their ambition: "We wanted to be disruptors. We told everyone we could build this with twelve people, and they laughed.
Yet we’ve proven it’s possible." The team’s confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where small budgets often demand creative punch‑through. "We come from indie film, used to punching above our weight," Abbott says. After 80 pitches, Wolf Haus finally secured equity funding from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, giving the studio the financial runway to continue development. Wolf Haus’s leadership is steeped in Hollywood history.
Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson—son of Mel Gibson—and the two later 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 he turned his attention to Star Citizen. Abbott also produced films such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx.
The seed of Join Us sprouted when Dietsch began experimenting with Unreal Engine, drawn by its free download model. "I’d loved games for years, but the barrier to actually creating something felt huge.
I downloaded Unreal, followed YouTube tutorials, and started tinkering," he explains. Despite having no formal game‑dev background, Dietsch built a few small prototypes before committing to a larger vision: a doomsday cult simulator that fuses survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics.
He built a proof‑of‑concept demo, ran it by Abbott, and the duo presented it to Dooma, a partner studio. Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s chief financial officer and narrative director, transitioned from film to games in the early 2000s by founding Sekretagent Productions, which supplied writing talent for titles like 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 firm Ebbu, which sold for C$430 million (about $330 million USD).
After that windfall he bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire. Yet a sudden call from his old Hollywood‑hill roommate, Michael Abbott, pulled him back into the industry. "I saw Joe’s demo and it blew my mind.
It convinced me to come out of retirement," Wendschuh recalls. Wendschuh then introduced the project to Reid Schneider, former VP at Warner Bros. Games and now head of Raccoon Logic, the studio behind Journey to the Savage Planet.
Schneider joined as a strategic advisor and recruited Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a former Ubisoft Montreal programmer, to serve as chief technology officer. With this core in place, the studio turned its focus to financing, a daunting task during an industry downturn.
Initial pitches in summer 2023 generated interest but no commitments. After partnering with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and re‑pitching in 2024, Wolf Haus finally closed a seed round with Lifelike Capital and Krafton.
The involvement of CAA—also representing titles like 007: First Light—proved invaluable, as did the presence of seasoned veterans Schneider and Chartrand. "My agent Derek Douglas, who handled my game work for twelve years, also heads CAA’s video‑game department. That network opened doors," Wendschuh notes. What truly sets Join Us apart is its development model: a studio of just thirteen full‑time staff members.
Dietsch emphasizes that the small size is intentional, fostering an environment where every voice matters and each team member can touch the creative core. To make an ambitious open‑world title feasible with such a lean crew, Wolf Haus invested heavily in custom tooling from day one. "Any system in the game must be scalable and debuggable by a single person. We built a toolkit that lets us expand features across a massive map without the project collapsing," Dietsch explains.
This tool‑first approach consumed much of the first year, as the team simultaneously designed gameplay concepts and the software needed to realize them. Funding from Krafton and Lifelike allowed the studio to self‑finance development, minimizing external pressure.
"The equity partners gave us the runway to perfect our tools. The game is essentially self‑funded; we’re only now adding a modest project‑finance line for marketing," says Wendschuh. This arrangement aligns investor incentives with the studio’s long‑term value creation, encouraging the continued development of in‑house tools even when they slow immediate progress.
When asked about generative AI, a hot topic in game production, Dietsch is unequivocal: the studio does not employ AI for creative work. "We believe a human touch is essential.
Using an AI to generate assets would defeat why we love making games," he says. Wendschuh adds that the team only uses AI for administrative tasks like calendar management and email drafting, never for art, design, or writing. Interestingly, Krafton—publicly branding itself as an "AI‑first" company—insisted that Wolf Haus avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline, mirroring similar stances taken by other Krafton‑owned studios such as Neon Giant. The commitment to handcrafted content is evident in Join Us’s six‑kilometre‑square map, which is entirely hand‑built, and its 15,000 voice lines, all recorded by human actors.
"Even as a tiny indie, we felt it was crucial to keep the experience human‑driven," Dietsch asserts. Dietsch also reflects on the differences between film and games. In cinema, an idea can take years to materialise, requiring countless approvals and the involvement of high‑profile talent before a studio greenlights production.
By contrast, a game concept can be prototyped within hours, allowing immediate iteration. "You can have an idea this morning, drop it into the engine, and see it instantly.
That immediacy is exhilarating," he says. Wendschuh points out that while film production is front‑loaded with intense, high‑stakes set work, games offer a more democratized path to success. "Anyone can rent a camera and shoot a backyard movie, but without star power or distribution it’s unlikely to break out. In games, the gatekeepers are fewer; you don’t need an A‑list actor or director to reach an audience," he explains.
Both founders agree that storytelling is the common thread linking the two mediums. "When I was six, I wanted to make either movies or games.
It came down to a coin toss and a Christmas camera. I learned to program on a TI‑83, so I’ve always been straddling both worlds. Whether it’s a film or a game, you’re delivering an experience, telling a story, and engaging an audience. That core purpose never changes," Dietsch concludes.