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AdHoc Studio

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AdHoc Studio
Company type
Private
IndustryVideo games
Founded2018; 8 years ago (2018)
Founders
  • Michael Choung
  • Nick Herman
  • Dennis Lenart
  • Pierre Shorette
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
United States
ProductsDispatch
Number of employees
~30[1] (2024)
Websiteadhocla.com

AdHoc Studio is an American video game developer founded in 2018 by industry veterans from Telltale Games, Ubisoft, and Night School Studio; namely, Telltale alumni Michael Choung, Nick Herman, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette. The studio is best known for developing Dispatch (2025).

History

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After their time with Telltale Games, then Ubisoft and Night School Studio, AdHoc Studio was formed in 2018 by Michael Choung, Nick Herman, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette. Their team has been the creative force behind some of Telltale's most successful games, such as The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Tales from the Borderlands.[2] The team's stated goal is to "carry the interactive narrative torch into the future".[3]

After the sudden closure of Telltale Games in October 2018, the studio was revived after its assets were purchased by LCG Entertainment in August 2019. Now doing business as Telltale Games, LCG re-acquired the video game rights to DC Comics properties such as Fables (The Wolf Among Us) and Batman.[4] Since AdHoc Studio was partially founded by Herman, Lenart, and Shorette, the creatives behind the first episode of The Wolf Among Us, the new Telltale Games approached the team to help make a sequel. Following the game's cancellation under the original Telltale, The Wolf Among Us 2 was re-announced at The Game Awards 2019.[5]

In March 2023, a re-release of the 2010 indie game Cart Life was listed on Steam, to be published by AdHoc Studio.[6] The game was set to be released in 2023, but in a forum post in 2024, the game's creator announced that the project was cancelled.[7]

At The Game Awards 2024, AdHoc announced their first original title, Dispatch. The narrative-focused adventure game follows former superhero Robert Robertson, voiced by Breaking Bad actor Aaron Paul, who has to take a job as a dispatcher for superheroes after his mecha suit was destroyed. The game's voice cast also includes Jeffrey Wright, Laura Bailey, and Matthew Mercer in supporting roles. Dispatch was originally supposed to be a live action project inspired by ESPN's This Is SportsCenter commercials, but it was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and later revived as a video game.[8] Dispatch was self-published by AdHoc and released episodically on PlayStation 5 and Windows throughout October and November 2025 to generally favorable reviews.[9][10][11] Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 versions were released on January 28, 2026.[12] An Xbox Series X/S version is set to be released in 2026.[13] The game has sold over 4 million copies.[14]

In July 2025, Critical Role Productions announced a partnership with AdHoc Studio to make a video game set in Critical Role's world of Exandria, being similar in concept to Dispatch. The partnership also includes Dispatch merchandise, tabletop games, and an animated series.[15]

In November 2025, Nick Herman revealed to Bloomberg News that while he, Pierre Shorette, and Dennis Lenart were at Ubisoft, they worked on a Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell game that was never released. After they left the company, the project was rebooted multiple times until it eventually became XDefiant, which shut down only a year after release. The same interview also revealed that after writing an 800 page script, prototyping, and shooting scenes for The Wolf Among Us 2, AdHoc ran into disagreements with the new Telltale Games and grew frustrated of being work for hire, so they pulled out of the project.[1] The current state of The Wolf Among Us 2, and if their work will still be used, is currently unknown to AdHoc themselves.[16]

Games developed

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Year Title Platform(s) Publisher
2025 Dispatch PlayStation 5, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S AdHoc Studio
TBA The Wolf Among Us 2 PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Telltale Games
Project Exandria (working title) TBA Critical Role Productions, AdHoc Studio

References

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  1. ^ a b Schreier, Jason (November 14, 2025). "The Turbulent, Seven-Year Saga Behind Hit Game Dispatch". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 14, 2025. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  2. ^ "About – AdHoc Studio". AdHocLA.com. Archived from the original on September 17, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  3. ^ Futter, Michael (February 8, 2019). "Former Telltale Devs Form AdHoc Studio, Continue Adventure Game Legacy". Variety. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  4. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (August 28, 2019). "Telltale Games Is Being Revived as a New Company With the Rights to The Wolf Among Us and Batman". IGN. Archived from the original on September 19, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  5. ^ Dornbush, Jonathon (December 13, 2019). "Telltale Games' The Wolf Among Us 2 Re-Confirmed". IGN. Archived from the original on August 6, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  6. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (March 28, 2023). "The Untold Tale of a Disappearing Video Game – and Its Resurrection". Wired. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  7. ^ Serin, Kaan (July 11, 2024). "After 11 years in limbo, acclaimed indie Cart Life isn't making a return as the award winning game's remake is "dead" and not "suitable for selling and buying"". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on August 29, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  8. ^ Manchester, Austin (July 9, 2025). "How Dispatch survived COVID-19 and evolved into a familiar Telltale-like game". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 27, 2025. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  9. ^ Williams, Hayley (December 12, 2024). "Aaron Paul Stars In Superhero Workplace Comedy Game Dispatch". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 17, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  10. ^ McCaffrey, Ryan (September 16, 2025). "Dispatch, the Superhero Comedy from Ex-Telltale Devs, Confirms PC + PS5 Release Date and Episodic Release". IGN. Archived from the original on October 6, 2025. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  11. ^ "Dispatch Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 12, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
  12. ^ Stewart, Marcus (December 17, 2025). "UPDATE: Dispatch Is Soaring To Switch 2 And Switch Next Month". Game Informer. Archived from the original on December 17, 2025. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  13. ^ Romano, Sal (March 26, 2026). "Dispatch coming to Xbox Series this summer". Gematsu. Archived from the original on March 27, 2026. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
  14. ^ Dring, Christopher (March 31, 2026). "Dispatch developer: We were told comedy games don't sell". The Game Business. Archived from the original on March 31, 2026. Retrieved March 31, 2026.
  15. ^ Spangler, Todd (July 21, 2025). "Critical Role to Start Development on Their First Video Game in Partnership With AdHoc Studio (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on September 26, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  16. ^ Purchese, Robert (September 17, 2025). "Even the studio that wrote The Wolf Among Us 2 doesn't know what's going on with it". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 7, 2025. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
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