Dispatch directors chose their animators because they'd made a 'really cool apple juice commercial'

Dispatch directors chose their animators because they’d made a ‘really cool apple juice commercial’ | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Strategy Just like XCOM, superhero comedy Dispatch cheats random percentages of success in the player’s favor: ‘anything that had over a 76% success chance would automatically succeed’ FPS Marathon UI designer declares himself the ‘fontslop merchant’ and promises Bungie will never ‘remove the SAUCE from the UI’ FPS Marathon’s aura-farming NPCs show just how bland and lifeless Arc Raiders’ AI-voiced characters really are RPG It’s only March, but I’m calling it: Esoteric Ebb is 2026’s best RPG and the first worthy successor to Disco Elysium RPG Cara Ellison, senior narrative designer on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 before Paradox switched developers, discusses her love of Troika’s original RPG: ‘Everyone on the team helped really make that maximum goth’ Adventure Making Dispatch was motivated by ‘a mix of arrogance and stupidity,’ its creative directors say FPS Deus Ex: Invisible War wasn’t what it should have been because the studio moved to an engine that was really built for Thief: ‘A super-boneheaded call, very bad decision… it really tanked development’ Games The best indie games on PC RPG The new game from Disco Elysium’s studio feels like the first Christmas after your parents’ divorce RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s lead says they messed up a little by putting a ton of great endgame content next to a final boss you can easily outlevel: ‘We weren’t sure if our game was going to be that good’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders devs are uplifted by how kind players have been to one another, but admit ‘we’re way worse people than the community’ when it comes to engaging in PvP Adventure Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium Action Just Cause dev co-founder says the studio got too big and ‘numbers focused,’ so he quit and made a $25 open world crime brawler FPS Laid-off Highguard developer cuts loose on the reaction to the infamous Game Awards reveal trailer: ‘We were turned into a joke from minute one’ Strategy In defense of XCOM: Chimera Squad PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!MarathonArc RaidersBest PC gearQuizzes Games Adventure Dispatch Dispatch directors chose their animators because they’d made a ‘really cool apple juice commercial’ News By Rory Norris published 11 March 2026 “We could kind of squint and start to see Dispatch for the first time.” When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: AdHoc) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Signup + Every Thursday GTA 6 O’clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O’clock experts. Signup + Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what’s on the horizon. Signup + Every Thursday The Setup Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more. Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter We knew working with them would be a risk… but we felt like we’d be in it together.Dennis Lenart.One of Dispatch’s most praised aspects is its impeccable style. Even more so than something like the Invincible TV show, Dispatch truly feels like a proper superhero cartoon of yesteryear. At least in vibes anyway—ignore the profanity, violence, and raunchiness.In a GDC talk with Dispatch creative directors and Adhoc Studio cofounders Nick Herman and Dennis Lenart, they revealed that this style almost didn’t happen. Early on, the issue they ran into was that they had no artist in-house, so they worked with “a bunch of talented artists” in a “shotgun approach”, as Herman explains it, to find the style that felt right, balancing the drama and comedy of the script. (Image credit: AdHoc)Unable to find the perfect fit, “we did what every artistically challenged indie developer did in 2022—we went to Art Station,” Herman joked, saying the team just wanted to find a temporary solution to get through the pitching phase with publishers and investors. It’s here they found inspiration, artist Lap Pun Cheung, who would go on to create concepts that would serve as the basis for the game’s style, not just pitch materials.Article continues below You may like Making Dispatch was motivated by ‘a mix of arrogance and stupidity,’ its creative directors say Dispatch sold over 3 million copies in 2025, and only around five percent of players beat the game without romancing anyone Why does isometric perspective suit Disco Elysium? ‘You can design the entire game as if it was a painting’ “We wanted our game to look like a premium animated television show. So instead of trying to do that as game