What is the origin story of Dispatch from Adhoc Studios and who founded the team?

1. Founders: ex‑Telltale talent leading a new studio

Multiple profiles and encyclopedic entries consistently identify Michael Choung, Nick Herman, Dennis Lenart, and Pierre Shorette as the people who formed AdHoc Studio in 2018; publications tied to the studio and gaming press repeat that founding lineup and describe them as veterans from Telltale (and other companies) who wanted to continue making choice‑driven stories ^{[1] [2] [3]}. AdHoc’s own About/press materials echo the same origin year and veteran creative roots — “established in 2018 by industry veterans from Telltale Games, Ubisoft, and Night School Studio” ^[6].

2. Dispatch’s strange origin: from live‑action commercials to a game

Dispatch did not start as a video game. Interviews and previews explain that AdHoc’s first hired work for the nascent studio was a live‑action project — inspired by ESPN’s This Is SportsCenter commercials — and the team planned production for March 2020; COVID‑19 forced them to rethink the approach and eventually reimagine the concept as an animated, interactive episodic title ^{[4] [1]}. That pivot explains why multiple reviewers and press outlets note Dispatch’s strong “show” qualities and cinematic presentation ^{[7] [5]}.

3. Why the founders’ Telltale pedigree matters

Coverage highlights that AdHoc’s leadership came directly from Telltale and related narrative studios, which shaped both creative aims and audience expectations: the studio deliberately positioned Dispatch as a return to serialized, choice‑based storytelling in the Telltale tradition, wrapping comedic workplace beats around player choice and episodic release ^{[3] [8]}. GamesIndustry.biz and others report founders stressing the importance of actor‑led storytelling and narrative craft — a deliberate response to investor and market pressures that favor measurable systems over “drivers” like writing and performance ^[9].

4. Development turbulence and a seven‑year saga

Press reporting characterizes Dispatch as a project with a long, sometimes turbulent development arc. Bloomberg’s in‑depth newsletter frames the title as a seven‑year saga culminating in the episodic release in mid‑October 2025, and other outlets note changes in format and multiple rounds of pitching and shelving before the final game ^{[10] [1]}. The public record here shows the studio iterated heavily — from live action to animation, from small test projects back to Dispatch — until settling on the version that released in 2025 ^[4].

5. What Dispatch became and the reception context

AdHoc released Dispatch episodically in October–November 2025 as an eight‑episode superhero workplace comedy; outlets emphasize its voice cast, animation, and narrative focus ^{[1] [5]}. Reviews are mixed‑to‑positive: some praise the cast and character work while critiquing railroading of choices and certain design limits — a pattern consistent with the team’s Telltale roots and with critics comparing linear narrative beats to a TV show ^{[8] [7]}.

6. Conflicting coverage and gaps in the record

While most coverage repeats the four named founders and the 2018 founding date, some items emphasize particular individuals (e.g., Pierre Shorette in multiple notices) and the studio’s broader team without enumerating all founders in every piece ^{[11] [6]}. Available sources do not mention detailed corporate paperwork, exact founding dates beyond the year 2018, or other investors — those specifics are not present in the provided reporting (not found in current reporting).

7. Why this origin story matters to players and industry watchers

The studio’s origin — ex‑Telltale creatives forming an indie focused on narrative, pitching multimedia work, surviving COVID pivots, then shipping an episodic title — shapes how Dispatch is read: as both a creative attempt to reclaim serialized choice games and as a commercial experiment in premium voice‑driven animation for games. That framing is explicit in interviews and industry analysis, which stress the founders’ commitment to actor‑led storytelling and episodic release as a deliberate strategy ^{[9] [4]}.

If you want, I can compile a timeline of public milestones (studio founding, early pitches, COVID pivot, announcements, release schedule) with source‑by‑source citations for each event.