You may remember that the trailer for Join Us debuted during the Xbox Showcase in June, showcasing a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulator where robed followers zip around on pigs, fire machine guns, and culminate in a showdown with Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One element that didn’t make the final cut was the snake‑gun, a quirky weapon that Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, says was inspired by a youngster on his team. "My colleague’s son asked, ‘What would a snake‑gun look like?’ We had a rapid‑prototyping tool for firearms, so within about thirty minutes I built a gun that actually launched snakes.
He was blown away, and we kept it in the final build," Dietsch recalls. That anecdote captures the chaotic, over‑the‑top gameplay players can expect from Join Us, an open‑world sandbox survival experience that lets you recruit followers—or invite friends in co‑op mode—to join your 1970s‑style cult. It also illustrates the studio’s technology‑first mindset, which has enabled a high‑fidelity, large‑scale title to be produced by an unusually small crew.
Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, explains the team’s philosophy: "We set out to be disruptors. We told everyone, ‘We don’t need a hundred‑person studio; twelve talented people can do it.’ Most people thought we were dreaming." The founders have a history of achieving big results on modest budgets.
"Our background is indie film, where you learn to punch well above your weight," Abbott says. After 80 pitches, the studio finally secured equity financing from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which took stakes in Wolf Haus.
The core team’s Hollywood pedigree runs deep. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson—son of Mel Gibson—who 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, a production company founded by Chris Roberts before he turned his attention to Star Citizen. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx.
Join Us originated from Dietsch’s experiments in Unreal Engine. "I discovered that Unreal Engine could be downloaded for free, which felt like a door opening after years of feeling blocked from creating my own games," he says. He taught himself through YouTube tutorials, built a few small prototypes, and eventually gravitated toward a doomsday cult simulator concept that merged his love of survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics. He built a proof‑of‑concept, anticipating that at some point a technical wall would force him to abandon the idea.
When he showed the demo to Abbott, the latter took it to Dooma, a production partner. Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s chief financial officer and narrative director, began his career as a film producer and screenwriter before transitioning to games in the early 2000s.
He founded Sekretagent Productions, providing narrative services for titles such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins. Later he launched several tech ventures, most notably the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million). After that windfall he bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire.
Yet, in classic Hollywood fashion, a call from his old roommate Michael Abbott pulled him back into the industry. "I was ready for a quiet life, but when Joe showed me his game, it blew my mind and convinced me to come out of retirement," Wendschuh says. He then introduced the project to Reid Schneider, a former Warner Bros.
Games vice‑president now heading 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 the core team assembled, the next hurdle was funding—an especially tough task during the industry downturn of 2023‑24.
The studio began pitching in summer 2023, receiving positive reactions but facing a skeptical market. After partnering with CAA in Los Angeles and re‑pitching in 2024, Wolf Haus secured a seed round from Lifelike Capital and Krafton.
Wendschuh credits the CAA connection—whose roster includes titles like 007: First Light—and the credibility of veterans like Schneider and Chartrand for opening doors. Despite the high‑profile backing, the studio remains lean, employing just 13 full‑time staff. "We entered the project with a clear understanding of its scope and wanted to keep a small‑team culture where every voice matters and everyone can touch the creative process," Dietsch explains.
To make a sprawling open‑world game feasible with so few hands, the team invested heavily in custom tooling early on. "Any system we build must be scalable and debuggable by a single person. We spent the first year simultaneously designing gameplay and building the internal tools that would let that design survive the complexities of an open world," he says.
The equity funding from Krafton and Lifelike allowed Wolf Haus to self‑finance development, using the capital to build those tools and cover production costs. "Our investors are motivated to increase the studio’s enterprise value, so they support our tool‑building ethos," Wendschuh notes. "When we encounter a problem we don’t know how to solve, we simply create a tool to address it.
It may slow us down in the short term, but it enables a tiny team to deliver a game of this magnitude." When asked about generative AI—a hot topic in game development—Dietsch is unequivocal: the studio does not employ AI for creative work. "We believe a human touch is essential. Turning the creative process over to an AI would defeat the reason we get up every morning," he says.
Wendschuh adds that while the team may use AI for administrative tasks like calendar management, it plays no role in art, design, or narrative. Interestingly, Krafton, which has branded itself as an "AI‑first" company, explicitly required Wolf Haus not to rely on generative AI for game creation.
This mirrors statements from Neon Giant, another Krafton‑owned studio, which also distances itself from AI‑driven development. Both executives stress that the decision is rooted in respect for creative professionals. "Generative AI threatens jobs for voice actors, artists, and other creators. That’s not a risk we’re willing to take," says Wendschuh.
Dietsch confirms that the six‑kilometre‑square map in Join Us is handcrafted, and the 15,000 voice lines were recorded by human actors—a point of pride for the indie studio. 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.
By contrast, a game idea can be prototyped within hours and experienced immediately in the engine. "You can have a concept at breakfast and see it in the game by lunch," he says, highlighting the immediacy that attracted him to interactive media.
Wendschuh observes that film production is heavily front‑loaded, with intense, short‑term bursts of activity on set after lengthy pre‑production phases. Games, however, have fewer gatekeepers; a small team can publish a successful title without needing A‑list actors or directors. "The barriers to entry are lower, and the chance of reaching an audience is higher," he notes. Both founders agree that whether you’re making a movie or a video game, the core mission remains the same: to craft an experience, tell a story, and engage an audience.
Dietsch’s childhood ambition—to create either movies or games—ultimately led him down the path he’s on now, proving that the medium may change, but the creative impulse endures.