Dispatch

Dispatch is a narrative adventure game developed by AdHoc Studio, a team of former Telltale Games developers who worked on The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us. Originally released on PC and PlayStation 5 in 2025, Dispatch is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC (Windows Store), and Xbox Cloud Gaming in Summer 2026.

The game is a superhero workplace comedy where players control Mecha Man, a B-list superhero working as a 911 dispatcher in the fictional city of Cosmopolis. Voiced by Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Mecha Man answers emergency calls, coordinates superhero responses, and navigates office politics—all while dealing with personal crises and existential dread.

Dispatch blends time-management gameplay (answering calls under pressure) with choice-driven storytelling (decisions affect which heroes respond and how situations resolve). The game is praised for its dark humor, sharp writing, and satirical take on superhero culture.

Core Loop

Players sit at a dispatch console fielding emergency calls from Cosmopolis citizens. Each call presents a crisis (bank robbery, alien invasion, cat stuck in tree) and requires the player to:

• Gather information — Ask callers for details (location, threat level, casualties).
• Assign heroes — Choose which superhero responds (each has strengths/weaknesses).
• Monitor outcomes — Watch news reports to see if the crisis was resolved or escalated.

Calls arrive in real-time, forcing players to multitask and prioritize. Sending the wrong hero to a crisis can result in civilian casualties, property damage, or PR disasters.

Choice & Consequence

Dispatch features branching narratives where player choices affect story outcomes. Prioritizing high-profile crimes over minor emergencies raises your hero team\'s reputation but lowers civilian trust. Ignoring your boss\'s orders builds camaraderie with coworkers but risks termination.

The story follows Mecha Man (real name Derek Kane), a washed-up superhero who lost his powers in a freak accident and now works as a dispatcher for the Cosmopolis Emergency Response Team (CERT). Derek struggles with depression, imposter syndrome, and resentment toward the A-list heroes he coordinates.

The narrative explores themes of burnout, late-stage capitalism, and the commodification of heroism. Cosmopolis\'s superhero guild operates like a corporation, with heroes ranked by social media followers and sponsorship deals. Derek must navigate this system while grappling with his own sense of purpose.

AdHoc Studio was founded in 2019 by Nick Herman and Sean Vanaman, former creative leads at Telltale Games. The studio is based in Oakland, California, and employs 25 developers. Dispatch is AdHoc\'s debut title, funded by a $2M seed round from indie publisher Annapurna Interactive.

Dispatch launched on PC and PS5 in October 2025 to an 82/100 Metacritic score. Critics praised its unique premise, Aaron Paul\'s voice performance, and sharp satire of superhero culture. Common criticisms included repetitive gameplay loops and limited replay value after completing the story.

Dispatch launches on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC (Windows Store), and Xbox Cloud Gaming in Summer 2026 (specific date TBA). The Xbox version includes all post-launch DLC (two story expansions adding 3 hours of content each) and supports Xbox Play Anywhere (buy once, play on console or PC).

The game is priced at $29.99 and will be available day-one on Xbox Game Pass.