Single-player, story-driven games may not dominate headlines like live-service blockbusters, but Dispatch from AdHoc Studio is a clear reminder that narrative adventures still have serious momentum. In an industry increasingly built around recurring updates and endless engagement loops, Dispatch managed to break through with something many players have been craving: a choice-driven, single-player experience that puts storytelling first.
Dispatch didn’t come from a massive publisher with a huge marketing machine behind it, either. It was created by AdHoc Studio, a team founded by four veterans of Telltale Games—developers who helped define the modern choice-based adventure genre. Their goal was simple: keep making the kind of branching, narrative-centric games that fans loved. But the reality of the market made that mission far more difficult than it sounds.
After Telltale’s shutdown in late 2018 and the company’s bankruptcy filing, the industry’s confidence in that particular style of game took a major hit. Investors and publishers became wary. To many decision-makers, story-first single-player games looked like a risky bet compared to multiplayer titles, battle passes, and live-service models designed to generate long-term revenue.
At the Game Developers Conference, AdHoc Studio co-creative director Dennis Lenart explained just how difficult it was to get Dispatch funded and supported. He described it as a tough moment to build a studio led by writers and directors focused on narrative single-player games. When pitching to publishers and potential investors, the team repeatedly heard the same response: the data didn’t show enough recent success stories, and the genre was seen as niche—or even “dead.” Lenart said the studio strongly disagreed with that assumption and kept pushing forward anyway.
Co-creative director Nick Herman echoed that mindset, admitting that the team’s determination was fueled by a mix of confidence and stubbornness. But there was also a practical reason behind it: AdHoc believed they were among the most experienced teams in the industry at creating choice-based narrative games. If they didn’t fight to keep that style alive, who would?
Even after getting a publisher early on, Dispatch still faced turbulence. That publisher ultimately walked away midway through development, leaving the team to figure out how to finish and release the project. AdHoc Studio then leaned on support from Critical Role as it moved toward self-publishing, a path that’s increasingly attractive for developers but also far more demanding and risky.
Through every setback, AdHoc stuck to a few guiding principles. Lenart emphasized that the team refused to chase trends just because they could. While they might have been capable of making a sprawling open-world action RPG, they recognized that wasn’t their strength—and it wasn’t what Dispatch needed to be. Instead, the studio focused on what it does best: delivering high-quality narrative design and meaningful player choice. Just as importantly, they didn’t want to compromise the vision with major cutbacks.
But there was another reality AdHoc faced as an independent studio: making a great game isn’t enough if it doesn’t sell. Lenart pointed out that once the team was running its own company, they had a responsibility to the developers behind the project. Dispatch needed to reach a wide enough audience to succeed financially, not just earn praise from critics.
In the end, that persistence paid off. Dispatch launched to critical acclaim and proved that strong storytelling can still thrive in today’s market. By the end of 2025, the game had sold more than three million copies—an impressive figure for a single-player, story-centric release that had to overcome publisher skepticism, shifting industry trends, and a challenging road to market.
Dispatch’s success sends a clear message: players still show up for great single-player storytelling, and studios willing to commit to narrative-focused design can still build hits—even when the industry says the genre is fading.
