The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulation. In the clip, robed followers zip around on pigs, unleash a barrage of machine‑gun fire, and the sequence culminates with a nightmarish vision of colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One element that didn’t make the final cut of the teaser was the infamous "snake gun," a weapon that originated from a spontaneous idea by a team member’s child. Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, recounts the moment: “My colleague’s son asked, ‘What if there’s a gun that shoots snakes?’ We had built a modular gun system that lets us prototype weapons in minutes, so I whipped up a snake‑shooter in roughly half an hour.
His reaction was pure awe, and the weapon stayed in the game.” This anecdote encapsulates the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us, an open‑world sandbox survival title where players can recruit AI followers—or friends in co‑op mode—to build a 1970s‑style cult empire. The game’s development story is equally unconventional. Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, explains that the studio set out to be “disruptors.” He says, “We told everyone we could deliver a AAA‑quality experience with just twelve people.
Most people laughed and called it impossible.” Their confidence stems from a background in low‑budget indie filmmaking, where they learned to “punch above their weight.” After 80 pitch meetings, the studio finally secured equity funding from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which took stakes in Wolf Haus. Wolf Haus’s founding team is steeped in Hollywood lineage. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson—son of Mel Gibson—who later co‑founded the studio.
Together they 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 originally founded by Chris Roberts before his transition to Star Citizen.
Abbott later produced films such as Fight for ’84 starring Jamie Foxx. The genesis of Join Us traces back to Dietsch’s early experiments with Unreal Engine. “I discovered Unreal was free to download and started tinkering after watching YouTube tutorials,” he says. Though he had no formal training, he managed to build a few modest prototypes before deciding to tackle something more ambitious: a doomsday cult simulator that blended survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics.
He created a proof‑of‑concept demo, hit a technical wall, and then showed the prototype to Abbott, who recognized its potential and introduced it to Dooma. Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s CFO and narrative director, entered the picture after a varied career that spanned film production, screenwriting, and video‑game writing. He founded Sekretagent Productions, providing narrative services for titles like Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins.
Later, he built several tech ventures, including the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million). After the sale, Wendschuh bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire. However, a call from his old Hollywood Hills roommate, Michael Abbott, pulled him back into the industry.
Upon seeing Dietsch’s demo, Wendschuh was convinced to join and later recruited former Warner Bros. Games VP Reid Schneider as a strategic advisor, along with Ubisoft Montreal veteran Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand as chief technology officer.
Funding proved to be a steep climb. The team began pitching in the summer of 2023, a period marked by a broader industry downturn. Although the concept consistently impressed listeners, securing capital required perseverance. After initial outreach, Wolf Haus signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles, re‑approached potential investors in 2024, and eventually closed a seed round with Lifelike Capital and Krafton.
Wendschuh credits CAA’s representation—also handling titles like 007: First Light—and the presence of seasoned veterans like Schneider and Chartrand for opening doors. Despite the high ambitions, Join Us is being built by a lean crew of just 13 full‑time staff. Dietsch emphasizes that the small‑team model was intentional: “We wanted everyone to have a voice, to touch the creative process, and to feel ownership over the final product.” To make such a scope feasible, 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 developer," Dietsch explains. The first year of development was therefore split between ideation and building the internal toolset that would later enable the open‑world map, complex AI, and myriad gameplay systems to function without collapsing under its own weight. The equity‑funded model gave Wolf Haus the runway to perfect these tools. Krafton and Lifelike’s capital was earmarked for development rather than external borrowing, allowing the studio to self‑finance the game.
Wendschuh notes, "Equity investors are motivated to increase the studio’s enterprise value, so they support our tool‑building ethos even if it slows short‑term progress. It ultimately lets us achieve a AAA‑scale product with a tiny team." When asked about the role of generative AI, Dietsch is unequivocal: the studio does not employ AI for any creative aspects of the game. "We believe a human touch is essential. Turning development over to an AI would defeat the very reason we get up each morning," he says.
Wendschuh adds that the only AI tools they use are mundane productivity aids, such as calendar scheduling and email drafting. Interestingly, Krafton—publicly positioning itself as an "AI‑first" company—insisted that Wolf Haus avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline, mirroring similar stances taken by other Krafton‑owned studios like Neon Giant. The commitment to handcrafted content extends to the game's world and audio.
The six‑kilometre‑square map was manually designed, and all 15,000 voice lines were recorded by human actors, a point both Dietsch and Wendschuh stress as vital to preserving artistic integrity. Dietsch reflects on the contrast between filmmaking and game development.
In film, an idea can take years to materialize, requiring countless approvals and the involvement of high‑profile talent to secure a studio green‑light. By contrast, a game concept can be prototyped in a single morning, inserted into the engine, and instantly iterated upon. This immediacy, he argues, is one of the most exhilarating aspects of interactive media.
Wendschuh concurs, noting that while film production is heavily front‑loaded with pre‑production hurdles, the video‑game industry has far fewer gatekeepers. "You don’t need an A‑list actor or director to get a game out; the barriers to entry are lower, which makes the odds of success comparatively higher." Both founders trace their passion back to childhood. Dietsch recalls wanting to make games or movies at six years old, a decision that ultimately hinged on a Christmas gift—a camera. He taught himself programming on a TI‑83 calculator, cementing a lifelong love for both mediums.
He concludes that whether the canvas is a screen or a console, the core goal remains the same: to craft an experience, tell a story, and engage an audience. This shared creative impulse continues to drive Wolf Haus as they bring Join Us to market, proving that a small, dedicated team can deliver a sprawling, high‑quality experience without relying on generative AI or massive staffing numbers.