The trailer for Join Us first caught public attention during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous co‑op cult simulation where robed followers zip around on pigs, unleash a barrage of machine‑gun fire, and conclude with an ominous shot of colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. What didn’t appear in that brief clip was the infamous snake gun, a quirky weapon that has become a hallmark of the game.
According to Joe Dietsch, CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, the idea sprang from a child’s imagination. "One of our team members’ sons asked, ‘What would a snake‑shooting gun look like?’" Dietsch recalled. "Because we had built a flexible gun‑creation tool, I was able to prototype a snake‑firing weapon in roughly thirty minutes. The kid was thrilled, and the weapon survived into the final build." That anecdote encapsulates the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us.
The title is an open‑world sandbox survival experience where players can recruit followers—or invite friends in co‑op mode—to join a 1970s‑style cult. The gameplay encourages absurdist experimentation, from bizarre weaponry to outlandish rituals, reflecting the team’s tech‑first mindset. Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, summed up their philosophy: "We set out to be disruptors. While everyone told us a twelve‑person studio couldn’t produce a high‑fidelity, large‑scale title, we proved them wrong." The developers’ confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where small crews routinely punch far above their budgetary weight.
"We’ve spent years making movies with shoestring resources," Abbott explained. "That experience taught us how to maximize impact with minimal staff." After a grueling 80‑pitch marathon, Wolf Haus finally secured equity investment from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which now hold stakes in the studio. Wolf Haus’s leadership is steeped in Hollywood pedigree.
Dietsch studied film at Chapman University, where he crossed paths with Louie Gibson—son of actor‑director Mel Gibson—and the two later co‑wrote and co‑directed the indie features Happy Hunting and Manifest West. Abbott, meanwhile, 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 the Star Citizen project. Abbott’s résumé also includes producing credits on titles such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx.
The genesis of Join Us can be traced back to Dietsch’s early experiments in Unreal Engine. "Unreal was free to download, and I’d always loved games but felt blocked by the perceived entry barrier," he said.
"I started learning from YouTube tutorials, built a few tiny prototypes, and eventually let my fascination with doomsday cults steer me toward a larger concept that merged survival mechanics with grindhouse cinema aesthetics." The initial proof‑of‑concept was deliberately ambitious, designed to test the limits of the studio’s technical pipeline. Dietsch expected to hit a wall, but when he showed the demo to Abbott, the latter recognized its potential and passed it along to Dooma, the company that would later provide financial backing.
Dooma’s CFO and narrative director, Dooma Wendschuh, entered the picture after a career that spanned film production, screenwriting, and video‑game writing for franchises such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Assassin’s Creed, and Batman: Arkham Origins. In the 2010s he founded several tech ventures, most notably the cannabis‑formulation firm Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million). Wendschuh’s post‑sale life took an unexpected turn when he bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire and enjoy a quiet existence.
A sudden call from his old Hollywood‑hillroommate, Michael Abbott, changed those plans. "I was told a friend had built a video game, and when I saw the demo, it blew my mind," Wendschuh recalled. He subsequently introduced the project to Reid Schneider, former VP at Warner Bros.
Games and now head of 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 a core team forming, the next hurdle was financing—a daunting task given the broader industry downturn in mid‑2023. The studio began pitching that summer, initially struggling to gain traction. "People liked what they saw, but the market was tight," Dietsch said.
After engaging Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and re‑launching the pitch cycle in 2024, Wolf Haus finally closed a seed round with Krafton and Lifelike Capital. Wendschuh believes the CAA connection, which also represents titles like 007: First Light, was instrumental, as was the presence of seasoned veterans like Schneider and Chartrand. Despite the high‑profile backing, Join Us remains a product of a remarkably lean operation—just thirteen full‑time staff members. The studio deliberately kept the team small to preserve a collaborative culture where every voice influences creative decisions.
"From day one we knew the scope of what we wanted to achieve," Dietsch noted, "but we also wanted everyone to feel ownership over the final experience." Achieving such ambition with a tiny crew required a heavy investment in internal tooling. Early in development, the team built a suite of scalable systems that a single developer could debug and extend. "If a game mechanic exists, it must be maintainable by one person," Dietsch explained.
"We spent a substantial portion of the first year iterating on the game concept while simultaneously constructing the tools that would let us expand it across an open‑world map without the project collapsing under its own weight." The equity‑funding model gave Wolf Haus the runway to perfect these tools. Krafton and Lifelike’s capital funded the entire development cycle, with only a modest amount of project finance earmarked for marketing. "Equity partners are incentivized to increase the studio’s enterprise value, so they support our tool‑building ethos," Wendschuh said. "Whenever we encounter a problem we can’t solve off‑the‑shelf, we build a custom solution.
It may slow us down in the short term, but it enables a small team to produce a game of this scale." When asked about the role of generative AI, Dietsch gave a clear answer: none. "We believe a human touch is essential for game creation. Hand‑crafting experiences is why we get up in the morning," he said. Wendschuh added that while the studio uses AI for mundane tasks like calendar management and email drafting, it never touches the creative pipeline.
Interestingly, Krafton—publicly branding itself as an "AI‑first" company—explicitly required Wolf Haus to avoid generative AI in the artistic process, mirroring similar stances taken by other Krafton‑owned studios such as Neon Giant. The team’s commitment to handcrafted content extends to the game’s world and audio. The six‑kilometre‑square map is entirely hand‑modeled, and the 15,000 voice lines were recorded by human actors, not synthetic voices.
"We wanted to protect jobs for voice talent and artists," Wendschuh emphasized, noting that the decision aligns with their broader philosophy of preserving creative labor. Dietsch reflects on the contrast between filmmaking and game development, highlighting the immediacy of the latter. In film, an idea can take years to materialize, requiring approvals, casting, and extensive pre‑production. In games, an inspiration can be prototyped within hours, allowing developers to see their vision in real time.
"You can have an idea this morning, drop it into the engine, and instantly interact with it," he said, describing the thrill that keeps him engaged. Wendschuh observes that film production is heavily front‑loaded, often hinging on securing high‑profile talent to greenlight a project. While anyone can technically shoot a movie with a consumer‑grade camera, breaking through without star power or distribution is rare.
By contrast, the video‑game landscape offers fewer gatekeepers, making it easier for small teams to achieve commercial success without marquee names. "You don’t need an A‑list actor or director to make a hit game," he noted. Both men agree that storytelling is the core driver across mediums.
"When I was six, I wanted to make either movies or games; it came down to a coin toss and maybe getting a camera for Christmas," Dietsch recalled. He taught himself programming on a TI‑83 calculator, a skill that later blended with his cinematic passions. "Whether you’re crafting a film or a game, you’re delivering an experience, telling a story, and engaging an audience.
The medium changes, but the creative impulse stays the same."