Interview with Dispatch Developer: We Were Told Comedy Games Don't Sell

Why It Matters

Dispatch’s breakout demonstrates that interactive narrative games can achieve mass‑market sales, prompting investors to reconsider genre biases and encouraging studios to prioritize story-driven experiences for broader audiences.

Key Takeaways

• Comedy games were dismissed as commercially unviable by investors
• Dispatch overcame publisher loss, self‑publishing with Critical Role backing
• Story‑first design targeted non‑gamer audiences via TV‑like visuals
• Team comprised writers/directors, hiring many junior, inexperienced staff
• Four‑year development proved interactive narrative genre can sell millions

Summary

The interview centers on Dispatch’s co‑founders, Michael Trong and Nick Herman, who recount how their indie studio—built by two writers and two directors—faced skepticism from both game investors and Hollywood executives. Critics told them comedy‑driven, narrative‑heavy games don’t sell, and they struggled to secure a publisher before ultimately losing their initial partner and turning to Critical Role for funding and self‑publishing support.

Despite the odds, Dispatch achieved unprecedented commercial success, surpassing four million copies sold and earning nine BAFTA nominations. The founders attribute this to a deliberate focus on story and character, high‑quality animated visuals, and ultra‑simple gameplay that lowers barriers for non‑gamers. Drawing on lessons from their Telltale days, they designed the game to appeal to TV‑savvy audiences, positioning interactive narrative as a bridge between passive viewing and active participation.

Key anecdotes illustrate the studio’s uphill battle: investors dismissed the team for lacking traditional programmers or designers, while Hollywood executives failed to grasp the medium’s potential. The founders responded by documenting every piece of feedback, iterating on the core pillars of Dispatch, and hiring a largely junior workforce and an animation house new to games. Their perseverance turned a perceived niche genre into a mainstream hit, challenging industry assumptions about market size and profitability.

The success of Dispatch signals a shift in the gaming landscape, proving that well‑crafted narrative experiences can attract broad, non‑core audiences and generate substantial revenue. It underscores the importance of storytelling over technical spectacle and suggests that investors and publishers may need to reassess criteria when evaluating interactive narrative projects.

Original Description

This week, we speak to the leaders of AdHoc Studio, the developer behind the smash hit superhero workplace comedy game Dispatch.

In this edition, we discuss the team's 'hell' of trying to find a publisher, why the game was viewed as being high risk, and their experiences of self-publishing the title.

Plus, we chat comedy games, their relationship with Critical Role, the episodic model, and what the team is planning to do next.

00:00 Introduction

04:04 Interactive narrative genre

09:12 The fight for money

15:30 Costly development

18:25 Comedy games

22:52 Episodic model

27:27 Critical Role

30:32 Self-publishing

40:35 Regrets?

43:30 What's next?

48:14 Speed round?