The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous co‑op cult simulation where robed followers zip around on pigs, wield machine guns, and eventually confront colossal, Cthulhu‑like tentacles. One quirky detail that didn’t make the final cut was the "snake gun," a weapon that shoots serpents, which Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, proudly recounted. According to Dietsch, the idea sprang from a conversation with a team member’s son who asked, “What would a snake‑firing gun look like?” Thanks to an internal tool that lets the studio prototype weapons in a matter of minutes, Dietsch was able to code a functional snake‑gun in roughly half an hour. The result was a jaw‑dropping moment for the youngster and a lasting feature in the game.
That anecdote encapsulates the chaotic, improvisational spirit that defines Join Us. The title is an open‑world sandbox survival experience set in a 1970s‑style cult, where players can recruit both AI followers and real‑world friends to join their bizarre cause. It also showcases Wolf Haus’s technology‑first mindset, which has allowed a relatively tiny crew to produce a high‑fidelity, large‑scale title. Michael Abbott, the studio’s chief operating officer, summed up their ambition: they wanted to be “disruptors.” “We told ourselves we could build something massive with just twelve people,” Abbott explained.
“Everyone else thought that was impossible.” Their confidence stems from a background in indie filmmaking, where small budgets often demand creative over‑achievement. After 80 pitch meetings, Wolf Haus finally secured equity financing from Krafton and Lifelike Capital, both of which took stakes in the company. The founding trio brings deep Hollywood connections.
Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, who also 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, the production outfit originally founded by Chris Roberts before he moved on to Star Citizen. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84, starring Jamie Foxx.
Join Us originated from Dietsch’s early experiments in Unreal Engine. “I discovered Unreal was free to download and started tinkering with it using YouTube tutorials,” he said.
Though he had no formal game‑development training, he managed to put together a few small prototypes before deciding to tackle a larger vision—a doomsday cult simulator that fused survival mechanics with grindhouse‑movie aesthetics. He built a proof‑of‑concept demo, showed it to Abbott, and the pair began the journey toward a full game.
The studio’s narrative director and CFO, Dooma Wendschuh, entered the gaming world after a career in film production and screenwriting. 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, most notably the cannabis‑formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (about $330 million USD). After a brief retirement on a remote Canadian island, a call from his old Hollywood‑hills roommate Michael Abbott pulled him back into the industry.
Wendschuh was impressed by Dietsch’s demo and agreed to join the project, eventually bringing on Reid Schneider—former Warner Bros. Games VP and now head of Raccoon Logic—to serve as a strategic advisor. Schneider recruited Pierre‑Olivier Chartrand, a former Ubisoft Montreal programmer, as chief technology officer. With this core team in place, the studio turned its attention to funding, a daunting task given the industry downturn of 2023‑24.
After multiple rounds of pitching and partnering with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Wolf Haus closed a seed round with Krafton and Lifelike Capital. According to Wendschuh, the CAA connection—who also represent titles like 007: First Light—was instrumental, as were the veteran game‑industry advisors who lent credibility to the pitch.
“My agent Derek Douglas, who handled my own game‑development career for twelve years, also heads the video‑game department at William Morris,” Wendschuh noted. Despite the high‑profile backing, the studio remains remarkably lean: only 13 full‑time staff members work on Join Us.
Dietsch emphasized that the small‑team structure is intentional, fostering an environment where every voice matters and everyone can directly influence the creative direction. To make such an ambitious project feasible, the team invested heavily in building internal tools early in development.
“If a system exists in the game, it must be scalable and debuggable by a single developer,” Dietsch explained. “We spent the first year simultaneously designing gameplay and constructing the toolset that would keep the project from collapsing under its own weight.” The funding model also gave Wolf Haus the runway needed to perfect these tools. Krafton and Lifelike’s equity investment has essentially self‑funded the game’s development, with only a modest amount of project finance earmarked for marketing. This arrangement aligns investor incentives with the studio’s long‑term goal of increasing enterprise value, encouraging them to support extensive tool creation even if it slows short‑term progress.
When asked about the role of generative AI, Dietsch gave a clear answer: the studio does not rely on it for creative work. “We believe a game needs a human touch,” he said. “Using AI to generate core content would defeat the purpose of why we love making games.” Wendschuh added that the team only uses AI for administrative tasks such as calendar management and email drafting, not for any artistic or design decisions.
Interestingly, Krafton—publicly branding itself as an “AI‑first” company—specifically required that Wolf Haus avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline, mirroring a similar stance taken by Krafton‑owned Neon Giant. Both executives stressed the importance of preserving jobs for voice actors and artists. The six‑kilometre‑square map in Join Us is handcrafted, and the game features roughly 15,000 voice lines recorded by human performers.
“Even as a tiny indie studio, we felt it was crucial to keep the human element,” Dietsch affirmed. Dietsch also reflected on the differences between filmmaking and game development.
In cinema, an idea can take years to materialise, requiring approvals, casting, and extensive pre‑production. By contrast, a game concept can be prototyped within hours: “You can have an idea this morning, drop it into the engine, and see it instantly. That immediacy is exhilarating.” Wendschuh agreed, noting that film production is heavily front‑loaded, with massive coordination needed to secure high‑profile talent before a project even gets green‑lit.
While anyone can shoot a backyard movie, breaking through without star power or distribution is rare. In the gaming world, gatekeepers are fewer, making it easier for small teams to achieve commercial success without A‑list names. Both founders traced their passion back to childhood. Dietsch recalled wanting to make either movies or games at age six, a decision that ultimately hinged on receiving a camera for Christmas.
He taught himself programming on a TI‑83 calculator, laying the groundwork for a lifelong love of interactive storytelling. He believes that, regardless of medium, the core goal remains the same: to craft experiences, tell stories, and engage audiences.
This shared creative impulse continues to drive Wolf Haus as they bring Join Us to life, proving that a handful of dedicated creators can build a sprawling, player‑driven world without leaning on generative AI or massive development teams.