The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, giving viewers a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulator. In the teaser, robed followers zip around on pig‑back, wielding machine guns, before the screen cuts to a massive, Cthulhu‑like mass of tentacles. One element that didn’t make the final cut was the infamous snake gun, a quirky weapon that the development team added after a young fan suggested the idea.
Joe Dietsch, the chief executive officer and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, recounts the moment: “One of our team member’s sons asked, ‘Can there be a snake gun?’ We had built a flexible weapon‑creation tool that let us prototype a new gun in about thirty minutes. I whipped up a snake‑shooting weapon on the spot, and the kid was ecstatic. It stayed in the game.” This anecdote captures the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us, an open‑world sandbox survival title where players can recruit followers—or friends in co‑op mode—to build a 1970s‑style cult. The same spirit underlies the studio’s broader philosophy: using technology to punch far above their weight.
Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, summed up their ambition: “We wanted to be disruptors. We told everyone, ‘We don’t need a hundred‑person studio; twelve people can do this.’ Most people laughed, saying it was impossible.” Their confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where small crews routinely produce high‑impact work on shoestring budgets.
Abbott explains, “We grew up on indie sets, learning to stretch every dollar and every hour. That mindset translated directly to game development.” After 80 pitches, the studio finally secured equity investment from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, giving them the financial runway to realize their vision.
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 the indie features Happy Hunting and Manifest West.
Abbott is the son of veteran makeup artist Larry Abbott and helped launch Ascendant Pictures, a production company originally founded by Chris Roberts before he moved on to the Star Citizen universe. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx. These film‑industry roots gave the team a unique perspective on storytelling, production pipelines, and the importance of a strong visual aesthetic.
Join Us originated from Dietsch’s early experiments in Unreal Engine. “I discovered that Unreal Engine was free to download, and that felt like a door opening,” he says. “I’d been a gamer and a movie fan my whole life, but the barrier to actually creating something felt huge. I started watching YouTube tutorials and tinkering, eventually making a few small prototypes.” Though he had no formal training in game development, Dietsch’s curiosity led him to build a series of tiny games before deciding to tackle something more ambitious: a doomsday cult simulator that fused survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema vibes.
He built a proof‑of‑concept demo, expecting it to hit a technical wall quickly. When he showed the demo to Abbott, the latter recognized its potential and introduced it to Dooma, the studio’s early incubator. Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s chief financial officer and narrative director, brings a hybrid background of film writing and tech entrepreneurship. Early in his career he wrote for titles like Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins through his company Sekretagent Productions.
He later founded several tech ventures, most notably the cannabis‑formulation firm Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (about $330 million USD). After the sale, Wendschuh bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, planning a quiet retirement.
That plan was derailed when a former roommate, Michael Abbott, called and asked him to look at a game Joe had built. “The demo blew my mind and pulled me out of retirement,” Wendschuh recalls.
He then introduced the project to Reid Schneider, a former Warner Bros. Games VP now heading Raccoon Logic, and to Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a veteran programmer from Ubisoft Montreal, who joined as chief technology officer. Funding proved to be the next hurdle.
The studio began pitching in the summer of 2023, a period marked by a broader industry downturn. “People liked what we were showing, but the market was tough,” Dietsch notes. The team eventually partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation and continued pitching throughout 2024. Their persistence paid off when Lifelike Capital and Krafton closed a seed round, providing the capital needed to keep development on track.
Wolf Haus’s lean structure—just 13 full‑time staff members—means every employee wears multiple hats. “We entered the project with a clear sense of scope,” says Dietsch, “but we also wanted a small‑team culture where everyone has a voice and contributes to the creative direction.” To make such an ambitious open‑world game feasible with a tiny crew, the studio invested heavily in custom tooling early on. “If a system exists in the game, it must be scalable and debuggable by a single person,” Dietsch explains. “We built a toolkit that lets one developer iterate without the whole project collapsing under its own weight.” The first year of development was therefore split between designing gameplay concepts and constructing the underlying tools that would support future expansions.
The equity funding model gave Wolf Haus the breathing room to perfect these tools. “Krafton and Lifelike are equity partners; their money funds the game directly, so the project is essentially self‑funded,” Wendschuh says. “We’re now adding a modest amount of project finance for marketing, but the core development has been covered by their investment.” This arrangement aligns investor incentives with the studio’s long‑term value creation, encouraging the team to keep building reusable tools even when it slows immediate progress.
When asked about generative AI, the team is unequivocal: they do not rely on it for creative work. “We believe a game needs a human touch,” Dietsch states. “Turning development over to an AI would defeat the reason we get up every morning.” Wendschuh adds that the only AI tools they use are mundane productivity aids, such as calendar scheduling and email drafting.
Interestingly, Krafton—despite branding itself as an “AI‑first” company—specifically required that Wolf Haus not employ generative AI in the creative pipeline, mirroring a similar stance taken by Neon Giant, another Krafton‑backed studio. The commitment to handcrafted content extends to the game’s massive six‑kilometre‑square map and its 15,000 voice lines, all recorded by human actors.
“That was non‑negotiable for us,” Dietsch emphasizes. “Even as a small indie, we wanted every pixel and every line of dialogue to feel authentic.” Dietsch also reflects on the contrast between film and game creation. In cinema, an idea can take years to materialise, requiring approvals, casting, and extensive pre‑production. “You write a script, wait three or five years, and finally get on set,” he says.
Game development, by contrast, offers immediate iteration: “You can have an idea this morning, drop it into the engine, and see it instantly. That immediacy is exhilarating.” Wendschuh notes that film production is heavily front‑loaded, with intense bursts of activity on set and a long pre‑production phase involving a handful of high‑profile talent to secure studio backing.
While anyone can technically shoot a movie with a consumer‑grade camera, breaking through without star power or distribution is rare. Games, however, have a lower barrier to entry and fewer gatekeepers. “You don’t need an A‑list actor or director to make a successful game,” he says, highlighting the democratizing potential of interactive media.
Both founders trace their passion back to childhood. “When I was six, I wanted to make either games or movies.
It came down to a coin toss and getting a camera for Christmas,” Dietsch recalls, adding that he learned programming on a TI‑83 calculator. He believes the core creative drive—crafting experiences, telling stories, and engaging audiences—remains the same across both mediums, even if the tools and distribution channels differ. In summary, Wolf Haus’s journey illustrates how a small, Hollywood‑infused team can leverage custom technology, strategic partnerships, and a steadfast commitment to human‑crafted content to produce a high‑budget‑looking game without resorting to generative AI. Their story underscores the power of lean development, the value of cross‑industry experience, and the enduring appeal of hands‑on creativity in an era increasingly dominated by automated tools.