The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, giving viewers a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulation. The footage showed robed followers riding on pigs, firing machine guns, and culminating in a monstrous, Cthulhu‑like mass of tentacles. What didn’t make the cut, according to Joe Dietsch—CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games—was the infamous “snake gun.” "One of the developer’s kids came up with the idea and asked, ‘What would a snake‑shooting gun look like?’ We had a rapid‑prototyping tool that let us spin up a new weapon in about half an hour, so I built it on the spot. The kid was blown away, and the weapon stayed in the final build," Dietsch recalls.
That anecdote captures the chaotic, over‑the‑top gameplay that Join Us promises: an open‑world sandbox where players can amass followers—or invite friends in co‑op mode—to build a 1970s‑style cult empire. It also illustrates the team’s technology‑first mindset, which has allowed a small studio to produce a high‑fidelity title that would normally require a much larger crew.
"We set out to be disruptors," says Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer. "We told ourselves we could deliver a AAA‑level experience with just twelve people. Everyone else thought we were crazy." The founders’ confidence stems from a history of doing big things on shoestring budgets. "We come from indie film backgrounds, so we’re used to punching far above our weight," Abbott notes.
After 80 pitches, the studio finally secured equity funding from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, giving Wolf Haus the financial runway to finish the game. Wolf Haus’s leadership team is steeped in Hollywood pedigree. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University, where he roomed with 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 his move to Star Citizen. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84 starring Jamie Foxx. Join Us originated from Dietsch’s early experiments in Unreal Engine. "Unreal was free to download, and I’d been a gamer my whole life, but the barrier to actually making a game felt huge.
I started watching YouTube tutorials and tinkering," he explains. Despite having no formal training, Dietsch managed to finish a few small prototypes before deciding to tackle something more ambitious: a doomsday cult simulator that blended survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics. He built a proof‑of‑concept demo and showed it to Abbott, who then took it to Dooma, a production partner. Dooma’s CFO and narrative director, Dooma Wendschuh, began his career as a film producer and screenwriter before moving into games in the early 2000s, providing writing services for titles like Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins.
Later, Wendschuh founded several tech ventures, including the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million). After selling his cannabis business, Wendschuh bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire. "I thought I was done, just going to walk my dog on the beach," he says. Yet a call from his old Hollywood Hills roommate, Michael Abbott, pulled him back.
Abbott told him a friend had built a video game, and after seeing the demo, Wendschuh was convinced to join the effort. He brought on Reid Schneider, a former Warner Bros.
Games VP now heading Raccoon Logic, as a strategic advisor, and recruited Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand—formerly of Ubisoft Montreal—as chief technology officer. With the core team assembled, the next hurdle was financing.
The studio began pitching in the summer of 2023, a period marked by a broader industry downturn. "People liked what we were doing, but the market was tough," Dietsch admits.
The studio eventually partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation, which opened doors to additional investors. By 2024, Lifelike Capital and Krafton had closed a seed round, giving Wolf Haus the capital needed to continue development.
The small‑team approach forced the studio to invest heavily in custom tooling early on. "Every system in the game has to be scalable and debuggable by a single person," Dietsch explains. The first year of development was split between designing gameplay concepts and building the internal toolset that would allow those concepts to scale across a massive open world without collapsing under their own complexity.
This tooling philosophy also aligns with the investors’ expectations: both Krafton and Lifelike are equity partners who prefer the studio to create its own solutions rather than rely on off‑the‑shelf shortcuts. Funding has been largely equity‑based, meaning the game is essentially self‑financed by the investors’ capital. "We’ve used their money to build the game, and now we’re only looking at a modest project‑finance line for marketing," says Wendschuh. This structure gives the studio the freedom to prioritize tool development and artistic vision over short‑term profit pressures.
When asked about the role of generative AI, Dietsch is unequivocal: the studio does not employ AI for any creative tasks. "We believe a human touch is essential. Using an AI to generate assets would defeat the purpose of why we love making games," he says. Wendschuh adds that the only AI tools they use are mundane productivity aids, such as calendar scheduling and email drafting.
Even Krafton, which has publicly branded itself as an "AI‑first" company, insisted that Wolf Haus stay clear of generative AI for content creation, fearing it could dilute artistic quality and jeopardize jobs for voice actors and artists. Indeed, Join Us’s six‑kilometre‑square map is handcrafted, and its 15,000 voice lines were recorded by human performers. "That was a non‑negotiable for us," Dietsch emphasizes.
The team views the decision as a statement of principle, especially for an indie studio that could have taken shortcuts. Dietsch also highlights a key advantage of game development over film: immediacy. In cinema, an idea can take years to materialize, requiring scripts, casting, financing, and studio approval before cameras roll. In contrast, a game concept can be prototyped within hours and iterated directly in the engine.
"You can have an idea this morning, drop it into Unreal, and see it instantly. That speed is intoxicating," he says. Wendschuh notes that filmmaking is heavily front‑loaded, with massive coordination required before any shooting begins, often hinging on securing a handful of high‑profile talent.
While anyone can technically shoot a video with a cheap camera, breaking through without star power or distribution is rare. Games, by contrast, have far fewer gatekeepers; a small team can reach a global audience without needing A‑list actors or directors.
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 boiled down to a coin toss and whether I got a camera for Christmas," Dietsch reflects. He learned programming on a TI‑83 calculator, merging his love for both film and interactive media.
"Whether you’re making a movie or a game, you’re crafting an experience, a narrative, and an emotional journey for the audience. The tools change, but the goal stays the same." Join Us is poised to launch as a testament to what a tight‑knit, tool‑driven team can achieve without relying on generative AI or massive staffing. The game promises a bizarre, satirical plunge into cult leadership, complete with snake‑shooting guns, pig‑mounted robed followers, and a hand‑crafted world that reflects the eclectic backgrounds of its creators—from Hollywood sets to cannabis labs.
As Wolf Haus prepares for release, they stand as a vivid example of how a handful of passionate creators can disrupt industry expectations and deliver an ambitious, fully human‑crafted experience.