Bloody Hell, Telltale! Even The Wolf Among Us 2's *Original Writers* Are In The Dark – But They've Got a New Story to Tell
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Even the original writers of *The Wolf Among Us 2*, AdHoc Studio, are in the dark about its current development, having moved on when Telltale needed 'more time'—but they've channeled that creative energy into *Dispatch*, a promising new episodic superhero comedy game with a rapid release schedule.
Right, so you know that feeling when you're waiting for a game, and it just… vanishes? Like some rogue spell went off and poofed it into the ether? Well, grab a pint, mate, because the saga of *The Wolf Among Us 2* is wilder than a grimoire full of unstable enchantments. And what I've been tinkering with this morning is genuinely spicy – even the folks who *wrote* the sequel's script don't know what the blazes is going on with it.
This rather illuminating (and slightly frustrating) peek behind the curtain comes courtesy of some ace reporting by Robert Purchese for Eurogamer, who dug deep into the mystery. And fair dinkum, it's a tale of resilience, creative pivots, and the beautifully chaotic nature of game development.
Let's cast our minds back, shall we? *The Wolf Among Us 2* was first announced way back in 2017. Then Telltale Games, the original purveyor of narrative choice-and-consequence goodness, famously imploded in 2018. Poof. Gone. Then, like a phoenix rising from the digital ashes (or perhaps more accurately, like a wizard getting a second wind after a nasty backfire), it was resurrected in 2019. Huzzah! But then, whispers, then shouts, then silence once more in 2023, amidst what sounded suspiciously like development burnout. You reckon it’s tough keeping track? Try being a developer on the project, eh?
So, what's the latest twist in this narrative yarn? Purchese had a chat with AdHoc Studio, a team formed by a bunch of ex-Telltale veterans, many of whom worked on the original *The Wolf Among Us*. These aren’t just any devs; Nick Herman, co-founder of AdHoc, actually directed the first episode of the OG *Wolf Among Us* (you know, the one called "Faith"). So, when it comes to Bigby Wolf's world, these folks *get it*.
Herman told Eurogamer that AdHoc was deep in the trenches on *The Wolf Among Us 2* for about two years. And get this: they didn't just doodle some ideas on a napkin. "We wrote a season, Season Two," Herman revealed. "We think it's better than Season One - and we were on Season One." That's a bold claim, mate, but coming from the original wizards behind it, it certainly sparks the old curiosity gland. They were, by all accounts, well into production, doing "tests," "cinematics," and "animation and stuff."
But then, as gaming development often does, things took a turn. When asked why AdHoc stopped working on it, Herman explained that Telltale (who was acting more like a publisher at that point) "needed more time." Fellow co-founder Pierre Shorette, ever the charmer, playfully interjected, "Yeah why did we stop working on that, Nick?" It's a bit of a classic, isn't it? The partner studio needing "more time" – always sounds a bit like corporate speak for "we're tweaking things internally and can't quite align." AdHoc, bless 'em, couldn't just sit around and twiddle their thumbs, so they had to move on to keep their own studio alive. And honestly, fair play to them.
"We're looking forward to seeing what they do with it," Herman added, sounding genuinely optimistic despite the situation. But here's the kicker: "I don't know how much of our version of the script is going to make it into what they end up making." Bloody hell. Imagine pouring your heart and soul into a sequel, crafting what you believe is a better story, and then having to just… let it go, hoping some of your magic makes it into the final brew. "Spicy," indeed, as Shorette succinctly put it.
So, where did AdHoc go when *The Wolf Among Us 2* hit yet another snag? They didn't just retreat to their digital lair and pout. Oh no, these wizards pivoted. They returned to an idea that had been brewing for a while, a project that had a frankly bonkers origin story: a live-action superhero idea *linked to Walmart* (yes, you read that right), which got flattened by the COVID-19 pandemic. "You're asking a bunch of game devs to shoot a TV show," Herman joked, calling its demise a "fun failure" and a "blessing in disguise." I reckon he's got a point; sometimes the universe saves you from your own ambitious, slightly mad schemes.
That "fun failure" morphed into *Dispatch*, AdHoc's self-published debut. And honestly, it sounds cracking. It's a superhero workplace comedy built in a familiar Telltale-esque cinematic choice-and-consequence mould, but with added mini-games. You've got Aaron Paul (yes, *that* Aaron Paul from *Breaking Bad*) as a guy who loses his mech suit and has to dispatch misfit superheroes to fight crime from a desk job. Plus, the amazing Laura Bailey is in it – Critical Role fans, you know what that means. It looks enormously promising, and it's a testament to AdHoc's ability to turn chaotic circumstances into creative gold.
Crucially, *Dispatch* will be an episodic game, but with a twist that addresses one of the biggest bugbears of the old Telltale model: the wait. All eight episodes will drop in quick succession, two a week, over the course of a single month starting October 22nd. No months-long cliffhanger agony! They've even got a demo on Steam if you fancy giving it a whirl. After *Dispatch*, they're even making a fully-fledged game for Critical Role, set in the famed Exandria. So yeah, AdHoc is keeping mighty busy.
What does this all mean for us, the eager players waiting for *The Wolf Among Us 2*? Well, it's a mixed bag, isn't it? On one hand, the mystery deepens, and the uncertainty around Telltale's internal development of a much-anticipated sequel only grows. What will the final product even look like? Will it retain any of the "better than Season One" magic that AdHoc brewed? On the other hand, it shines a light on the incredible resilience and talent of developers like those at AdHoc Studio, who, when faced with creative limbo, didn't just pack up their spellbooks. They forged their own path, built something new and exciting, and are delivering it to players in a way that shows they've learned from past industry experiences. That, mate, is the kind of creative alchemy I can get behind. Here's hoping *Dispatch* is a hit and that AdHoc's new adventures are every bit as compelling as the stories they started.
**Source:** Originally reported by Robert Purchese for Eurogamer.
Tags: TheWolfAmongUs2, TelltaleGames, AdHocStudio, GameDevelopment, IndieGames
Original article: Eurogamer