The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, giving viewers a glimpse of a darkly humorous co‑op cult simulator. In the clip, robed cultists charge on pigs while firing machine guns, culminating in a shot of massive, Cthulhu‑like tentacles.
One element that didn’t make the final cut was the infamous “snake gun,” a quirky weapon that Joe Dietsch, the chief executive officer and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, says was born from a simple suggestion by a team member’s son. "His kid asked, ‘What if there’s a gun that shoots snakes?’" Dietsch recalls. "Because we had built a modular gun system, I could whip up a snake‑shooter in about thirty minutes. The kid went nuts, and we kept it 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 invite friends in co‑op mode—to build a 1970s‑style cult.
It also illustrates the studio’s technology‑first mindset, which has allowed a small crew to produce a visually rich, high‑fidelity experience that would normally require a much larger staff. 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 team; twelve people can do this.’ Most people laughed and said it was impossible." Their confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where they learned to punch well above their weight.
After 80 pitches, the team finally secured equity funding from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which took stakes in Wolf Haus. The founders’ Hollywood roots run deep. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, who now co‑heads Wolf Haus.
Together they co‑wrote and co‑directed the indie films Happy Hunting and Manifest West. Abbott, the son of veteran makeup artist Larry Abbott, helped launch Ascendant Pictures—a production company started by Chris Roberts before he moved on to the Star Citizen universe—and later produced movies such as Fight for ’84 starring Jamie Foxx. Join Us originated from Dietsch’s early experiments in Unreal Engine. "I discovered that Unreal was free to download and started tinkering with it using YouTube tutorials," he explains.
Although he had never built a game before, he managed to create a few small prototypes before deciding to pursue something larger. The core idea—a doomsday cult simulator that merges survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics—kept resurfacing because it combined his favorite elements from both film and games. He built a proof‑of‑concept demo, assuming it would eventually hit a technical wall.
When he showed the demo to Abbott, the latter took it to Dooma, a partner studio. Dooma’s CFO and narrative director, Dooma Wendschuh, had begun his career as a film producer and screenwriter before shifting to games in the early 2000s.
He founded Sekretagent Productions, providing writing services for titles like Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins. Later, he launched several tech ventures, including the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million). After selling Ebbu, Wendschuh bought a remote restaurant on a tiny Canadian island, intending to retire. Yet, in classic Hollywood fashion, a call from his old roommate Michael Abbott pulled him back.
"I was looking at the video game Joe had made and it blew my mind, so I came out of retirement," Wendschuh says. He 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 in place, the next hurdle was financing, a task made harder by an industry downturn in mid‑2023. The studio initially pitched the game on its own, then enlisted the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles for representation.
After a second round of pitches in 2024, they closed a seed round with Lifelike Capital and Krafton. Wendschuh credits the CAA connection—whose roster includes titles like 007: First Light—and the presence of seasoned veterans Schneider and Chartrand for opening doors. Despite the high ambitions, Join Us is being built by just 13 full‑time staff members. Dietsch emphasizes that the small‑team ethos means everyone has a voice and contributes creatively.
To make such a scope feasible, the studio invested heavily in custom tooling from day one. "If a system exists in the game, it must be scalable and debuggable by a single person," he notes. The first year of development was split between ideating gameplay and engineering the tools that would later allow the world to expand without collapsing under its own weight.
The equity funding model gave Wolf Haus the runway to perfect these tools. Krafton and Lifelike’s capital was used to self‑fund the entire development, with only a modest amount of project finance earmarked for marketing. "Equity partners want the studio to increase its enterprise value, so they support us in building extensive toolsets," says Wendschuh.
"Whenever we encounter a problem we can’t solve, we build a tool for it. It may slow us down, but it enables a tiny team to deliver a game of this scale." When asked about generative AI, the team’s response is unequivocal: they do not rely on it for creative work.
"We believe a human touch is essential. Using AI to generate core content would defeat why we get up in the morning," Dietsch explains.
Wendschuh adds that the only AI tools they use are for administrative tasks like calendar management and email drafting. Interestingly, Krafton—positioning itself as an "AI‑first" company—insisted that Wolf Haus avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline, mirroring a similar stance taken by Neon Giant, another Krafton‑owned studio. The studio also rejects AI‑generated voice work.
The six‑kilometre‑square map in Join Us is handcrafted, and the game’s 15,000 voice lines were recorded by human actors, a decision the team feels is vital even for an indie title. Dietsch highlights a key advantage of game development over film: immediacy.
In cinema, an idea can take years to materialise, requiring scripts, greenlights, casting, and lengthy production schedules. In contrast, a game concept can be prototyped in a single morning and instantly viewed in the engine, providing rapid feedback and a sense of excitement that keeps the creative process lively. Wendschuh points out that filmmaking is heavily front‑loaded, with intense, high‑stakes production phases that depend on securing a few high‑profile talent and studio backing. While anyone can technically shoot a movie with a backyard camera, breaking through without star power or distribution is rare.
Game development, however, has far fewer gatekeepers; a small team can reach a global audience without needing A‑list actors or directors. Both founders agree that the core drive behind movies and games is the same: delivering an experience, telling a story, and engaging an audience. Dietsch reflects on his childhood, when a coin toss and a Christmas camera set him on a path that blended programming on a TI‑83 calculator with a love for visual storytelling.
Whether through film or interactive media, the ultimate goal remains to craft memorable narratives that resonate with people. In summary, Wolf Haus’s Join Us demonstrates how a blend of Hollywood heritage, savvy tech development, and disciplined financing can enable a tiny team to produce an ambitious, high‑quality game without leaning on generative AI. The studio’s commitment to handcrafted content, bespoke tools, and a collaborative culture illustrates a new model for independent game creation—one that challenges the conventional wisdom that big budgets and massive staff are prerequisites for success.