Dispatch has reached 2 million players in under a month since its October 22 launch. The narrative superhero game from AdHoc Studio is now on track to hit its three-year sales target in just three months.
AdHoc is a Los Angeles studio founded by former Telltale Games developers who worked on The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us. Dispatch is their first release.
The game puts players in the role of a dispatcher managing a team of superheroes. Instead of direct character control, players assign heroes to missions and make story choices. The format mirrors an interactive TV show more than a traditional adventure game.
AdHoc released the game in episodes with two new episodes per week. Unlike older Telltale titles that struggled with delays between episodes, all of Dispatch‘s content was finished before launch. The consistent weekly schedule kept players engaged throughout the rollout.
The voice cast includes Aaron Paul and Jeffrey Wright alongside the Critical Role cast. Several streamers also appear in the game including MoistCr1TiKaL, Jacksepticeye, and Alanah Pearce.
Development nearly collapsed when an investor suddenly backed out. Critical Role stepped in with funding to complete the project. The media company had been aware of the game and liked what they saw.
That partnership proved crucial. Critical Role’s massive fanbase helped push the game into mainstream attention. The marketing clearly positioned Dispatch as a cinematic narrative game with accessible gameplay rather than overselling its scope.
The 2 million milestone validates AdHoc’s approach at a time when many publishers had written off narrative adventure games as commercially risky. The game hit 1 million copies in its first 10 days before doubling that number shortly after.
