in three months,” he states. “So the bull case in three months… We were confident people would like it. I think the degree to which it would be successful is something that I certainly didn’t anticipate.”
The Role of Storytelling and Professional Talent
AdHoc Studio emphasizes the importance of strong storytelling and professional voice acting in their game’s success. Jeffrey Wright, known for his role in Westworld, plays Chase, a retired superhero who has aged unnaturally fast. According to Nick Herman, creative director, Wright’s performance was crucial: “AI feels like a production solution, not a creative one.
Maybe it’s a creative one if you aren’t creative.”
Choung explains further, comparing the creation of such games to building a Formula One team. “All the decks and all the conversation center around talking about the cars… It’s not great at talking about the drivers,” he says. “But we have both—what others may lack. And it’s hard to talk about those things without sounding braggy.”
Industry Skepticism and Support
The AdHoc founders face skepticism from traditional investors who are accustomed to data-heavy pitch decks. They argue that their genre, which focuses on storytelling and performance, is often dismissed due to the failure of similar games in the past. “They’re saying, well, this game tanked,” says Herman. “And it’s like, yeah, but we look at that game and we think: ‘the creative was bad’. You wouldn’t point to a bad movie and go: ‘Movies are dead.
There’s no way we’re ever making a movie again, because this movie failed.’ But that’s kind of how people approach our genre.”
Despite these challenges, AdHoc Studio secured financial support from Critical Role, a media company known for its tabletop role-playing campaigns and game publishing. Choung highlights the importance of finding partners who share their vision: “Ultimately, with CritRole, they were a perfect partner in that they share the same value as we do… And so they immediately saw and believed in what we were doing and took a chance. Honestly, that was crucial to getting this whole thing done.”
Conclusion
The success of Dispatch not only proves the viability of storytelling-focused adventure titles but also opens up new possibilities for interactive storytelling within the gaming industry. AdHoc Studio’s approach has caught the attention of both players and investors, potentially paving the way for more innovative games that prioritize narrative over traditional metrics.
