The trailer for Join Us first appeared during the Xbox Showcase in June, offering a glimpse of a darkly humorous cooperative cult simulator. In the clip, robed cultists zip around on pig‑mounted vehicles, firing an array of absurd weapons before the screen fades to a massive, Cthulhu‑like mass of tentacles. One weapon that didn’t make the final edit was the infamous snake gun, a quirky addition that Joe Dietsch, the CEO and creative director of Wolf Haus Games, says was born from a simple family conversation.
"My team member’s son asked if we could make a gun that shoots snakes," Dietsch recounts. "We had built a modular weapon system that lets us prototype new guns in under thirty minutes, so I whipped up a snake‑shooter on the spot. His reaction was priceless, and the weapon survived into the final build." That anecdote captures the chaotic, sandbox‑style gameplay that Join Us promises: an open‑world survival experience where players can recruit followers—or invite friends in co‑op mode—to build a 1970s‑style cult empire. It also illustrates the studio’s technology‑first mindset, which has enabled a high‑fidelity, large‑scale title to emerge from a remarkably small development team.
Michael Abbott, Wolf Haus’s chief operating officer, summed up their philosophy: "We wanted to be disruptors. While everyone assumed you need a hundred‑person studio to make a game of this scope, we set out to prove that twelve talented people could do it." The team’s confidence wasn’t unfounded.
Their background in independent filmmaking taught them to punch far above their budgetary weight. "We grew up making indie films, constantly stretching limited resources," Abbott explains. "That experience translates directly to game development." Wolf Haus’s founding trio brings deep Hollywood connections to the table. Dietsch studied film at Chapman University alongside Louie Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, who now co‑foundes the studio.
Together they co‑wrote and co‑directed the low‑budget 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 shift to Star Citizen. Abbott later produced movies such as Fight for ’84 with Jamie Foxx. The seed of Join Us sprouted when Dietsch began tinkering with Unreal Engine.
"Unreal was free to download, and I’d been a gamer for as long as I’d been a movie watcher," he says. "The biggest barrier felt like the lack of a low‑cost entry point for creation, so I started learning from YouTube tutorials and built a few tiny prototypes." Even without prior development experience, Dietsch managed to ship a couple of small games before committing to a larger vision.
"I kept circling back to a doomsday cult simulator because it merged my love for survival mechanics, grindhouse cinema, and the idea of a single IP that could live in both film and games," he explains. He built a proof‑of‑concept demo, assuming he would eventually hit a technical wall. When he showed the demo to Abbott, the latter recognized its potential and introduced it to Dooma, a partner studio.
Dooma Wendschuh, Wolf Haus’s chief financial officer and narrative director, entered the picture after a varied career that spanned film production, screenwriting, and video‑game writing. In the early 2000s 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 launched several tech ventures, most notably the cannabis formulation company Ebbu, which sold for roughly C$430 million (US$330 million). After cashing out, he bought a remote island restaurant in Canada, intending to retire. But retirement was short‑lived.
"Out of the blue, my old roommate Michael Abbott called and said a friend had made a video game. I watched Joe’s demo and it blew my mind, so I came out of retirement," Wendschuh recounts.
He then brought 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 veteran Ubisoft Montreal programmer, to serve as chief technology officer. With the core leadership in place, the next hurdle was financing—a daunting task in a market that was already experiencing a downturn. The team began pitching in summer 2023, navigating a skeptical investor climate. "People liked what we were building, but the timing was tough," Dietsch says.
The studio secured representation from CAA in Los Angeles, which helped open doors to a seed round led by Lifelike Capital and Krafton. Both investors took equity stakes, allowing Wolf Haus to self‑fund development while preserving creative control. Abbott credits the CAA connection and the presence of seasoned industry veterans for smoothing the fundraising process. "My agent Derek Douglas had been my representative during my twelve years in games and previously headed the video‑game department at William Morris," Wendschuh notes.
"Having that pedigree gave investors confidence despite our small headcount." Today, Join Us is being built by just thirteen full‑time staff members. The studio deliberately kept the team lean to ensure every voice could influence the creative direction. "We wanted a tight‑knit environment where anyone can touch any part of the project," Dietsch explains.
To make a game of this ambition feasible with so few people, Wolf Haus invested heavily in internal tooling from day one. "If a system needs to scale across a massive open world, it must be debugged and expanded by a single developer. That required us to build a robust toolkit alongside the actual game design." Wendschuh says the equity‑funding model gave the studio the runway to perfect those tools. "Krafton and Lifelike’s capital financed the entire development, and we’re now only seeking modest project finance for marketing.
The investors are aligned with our goal of increasing the studio’s enterprise value, so they support our tool‑building ethos even if it slows short‑term progress." When asked about the role of generative AI, the team’s answer was unequivocal: none of the creative work relies on AI. "We believe a human touch is essential for a game we’re passionate about," Dietsch states. "We might use AI for mundane tasks like calendar management, but not for design, art, or writing." Krafton, despite branding itself as an "AI‑first" company, also insisted that Wolf Haus avoid generative AI in the creative pipeline.
This mirrors a broader industry trend where studios, such as Krafton‑owned Neon Giant, publicly distance themselves from AI‑driven content creation. "We respect creative professionals and don’t want AI to replace voice actors or artists," Wendschuh adds.
The six‑kilometre‑square map in Join Us is handcrafted, and the game’s 15,000 voice lines were recorded by human actors—an intentional choice to preserve authenticity. Dietsch reflects on the contrast between film and game development. In cinema, an idea can take years to materialise, subject to studio approvals and scheduling constraints. In games, an inspiration can be prototyped within hours, allowing immediate iteration.
"You can have an idea at breakfast, drop it into the engine, and see it in action by lunch," he says, describing the exhilarating immediacy that drew him from movies to interactive media. Wendschuh observes that film production is heavily front‑loaded, requiring star power and studio backing before cameras even roll.
While anyone can shoot a low‑budget movie with a backyard camera, breaking through without marquee names or distribution is rare. By contrast, the gaming landscape offers fewer gatekeepers, making it easier for small teams to reach a global audience without A‑list talent. Both founders agree that the core creative impulse—telling stories and delivering experiences—remains the same across mediums.
"When I was six, I wanted to make either movies or games; a coin toss and a Christmas camera decided the path. I learned to program on a TI‑83, and that love never left me," Dietsch muses.
"Whether you’re crafting a film or a game, you’re creating an experience, a narrative, and an emotional connection. The medium changes, but the purpose stays constant."