The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous co‑op cult simulator where robed followers zip around on pigs, unleash machine‑gun fire, and eventually confront colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One of the most memorable, yet unseen, moments was the inclusion of a "snake gun"—a weapon that fires serpents.
Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, explains that the idea came from a team member’s child, who simply asked, "Can there be a snake gun?" With a rapid‑prototyping tool at their disposal, Dietsch was able to design and implement the weapon in roughly half an hour, delighting the youngster and cementing the quirky weapon in the final product. That anecdote captures the chaotic, sandbox‑style gameplay that Join Us promises.
Set in an open‑world survival environment, players can recruit followers—or invite friends in co‑op mode—to join a 1970s‑inspired cult. The game’s design philosophy is deeply rooted in the studio’s tech‑first mindset, which has allowed a relatively small crew to produce a high‑fidelity experience that would traditionally require a much larger team. Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, emphasizes their disruptive intent: "We told everyone we could build a AAA‑level title with just twelve people. Most thought we were insane." The Wolf Haus team’s confidence stems from a history of achieving big results on modest budgets.
Many of the founders cut their teeth in independent film, where resourcefulness is essential. "We’re used to punching well above our weight," Abbott notes. After 80 pitches, the studio finally secured equity investment from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, giving them the financial runway needed to bring Join Us to life. The founding trio brings deep Hollywood connections.
Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, and the two 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. These cinematic roots inform the game’s narrative tone and visual style.
Join Us originated from Dietsch’s early experiments in Unreal Engine. "Unreal was free to download, and I felt there was a huge barrier to actually creating something," he recalls.
He taught himself through YouTube tutorials, built a few small prototypes, and eventually settled on a doomsday cult simulator that blended survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics. The proof‑of‑concept was handed to Abbott, who then presented it to Dooma, a partner that helped push the project forward. Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s chief financial officer and narrative director, brings a hybrid background of film production and game writing.
He previously founded Sekretagent Productions, contributing narrative work to 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 company Ebbu, which sold for C$430 million. After a brief retirement on a remote Canadian island, a call from former roommate Michael Abbott lured him back into development.
Impressed by Dietsch’s demo, Wendschuh recruited industry veteran Reid Schneider—formerly of Warner Bros. Games—to serve as strategic advisor, and brought in Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a former Ubisoft Montreal programmer, as chief technology officer. Securing financing proved challenging amid a market downturn in 2023.
The team’s early pitches generated curiosity but little commitment. Partnering with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) gave them credibility and access to investors. By 2024, Lifelike Capital and Krafton committed seed funding, allowing Wolf Haus to remain self‑sufficient throughout development.
"Our investors are equity partners, so they care about the studio’s long‑term value," Wendschuh explains. "That’s why they support our heavy investment in custom tools." Tool development is the cornerstone of Wolf Haus’s ability to deliver a sprawling open‑world with a tiny staff.
Dietsch stresses that every system must be scalable and debuggable by a single developer. The first year of production was split between designing gameplay concepts and building the underlying toolset that would keep the project from collapsing under its own weight. This approach not only streamlined current development but also laid the groundwork for future titles. Contrary to industry chatter about generative AI replacing human creators, Wolf Haus deliberately avoids AI in the creative pipeline.
"We believe a game needs a human touch," says Dietsch. "Using AI to generate assets would defeat why we get up every morning to make games." Wendschuh adds that while they may use AI for mundane tasks like calendar management, none of it touches the artistic side.
Krafton, despite branding itself as an "AI‑first" company, explicitly required Wolf Haus to refrain from AI‑generated content, aligning with the studio’s philosophy of preserving jobs for voice actors, artists, and other creatives. Indeed, the six‑kilometre‑square map in Join Us is hand‑crafted, and the game features roughly 15,000 voice lines recorded by human performers. Dietsch argues that this level of handcrafted detail is essential, even for an indie‑scale project, because it sustains immersion and authenticity.
The transition from film to games also offers Dietsch a sense of immediacy he missed in cinema. In film, an idea can take years to materialise, subject to studio approvals and scheduling constraints. In game development, an inspiration can be prototyped in the engine within hours, allowing instant feedback and iteration.
Wendschuh notes that while film production is front‑loaded with high‑stakes negotiations and talent lock‑ins, games have far fewer gatekeepers; a small team can release a successful product without A‑list actors or directors. Both mediums, however, share a core purpose: to craft experiences, tell stories, and engage audiences. Dietsch reflects that his childhood fascination with both movies and video games ultimately converged in his career, proving that the creative impulse transcends the specific format.
The result is Join Us—a bold, off‑beat cult simulator built by a lean, Hollywood‑savvy team that proves size isn’t the only factor in delivering a compelling, high‑quality game.