As Dispatch crosses 5 million players, AdHoc adds commentary and storyboard experiences

Hi there! A fun little story today, as AdHoc Studio, the team behind the hit superhero narrative game Dispatch, has a big celebration to mark the one-year anniversary of the game's initial launch.

That includes a new platform to play on, as well as new ways for existing owners to go back through and experience the story.

Also included in this letter are a few thoughts on another Age of Empires DLC.

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Back to the drawing boards

Dispatch is now over 5 million players, up from the previous milestone of 4 million that was given back in March 2026. Currently available on PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S, Dispatch is expanding to mobile platforms in December. The first four episodes of the game will be available for free, with the full game available for $20.

That's not all, as AdHoc is introducing new Commentary and Storyboard modes. The Commentary version adds insights from the cast as the game is played, as Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Erin Yvette, and others share their perspectives on the quirky crew of heroes and former villains.

The Storyboard version, meanwhile, changes up the visuals by presenting the game through the original storyboards that were used for planning everything out.

Both of these modes are available today for owners of the Deluxe Edition of the game. Personally, I love commentary tracks, and I can definitely see myself listening to the thoughts of the cast and crew whenever I get to replaying Dispatch. The storyboard idea is also pretty fun, and it's something that likely wouldn't work well outside of the particular kind of game that Dispatch is.

If you haven't played it yet, I highly recommend checking Dispatch out. It's an awesome superhero story that feels oriented towards adults without getting bogged down or feeling too meanspirited. It's also genuinely hilarious.

The game has been a resounding success so far, and while AdHoc Studio also worked on the narrative for the upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive Until Dawn 2, I'm hoping we won't be waiting too much longer to see another season of superheroes dispatched.

More Vikings, more Age of Empires

As a quick note, I've also been playing Raiders of the North, a new DLC for Age of Empires 4, thanks to a review code from Xbox.

Thematically, there's a bit of overlap with the Age of Empires 2 DLC that arrived a few weeks ago, as both are heavily focused on Vikings. Raiders of the North adds Vikings and Scots as playable factions, and I am particularly fond of the upgrade tree for the former.

While the Vikings have a general population cap, they don't have to recruit villagers, instead drawing them in automatically through migration. That means potential explosive growth, but it also means keeping an eye on said migration to avoid maxing out the limit too early when I also needed to start building up a larger army.

Speaking of an army, the Berserkers that can be automically recruited from a special sacred grove are particularly nice, and perfect for keeping a steady stream of soldiers to harass enemy scouts that try to take important spots across the map.

The future of Age of Empires and World's Edge has a huge question mark now that the studio is being moved under the Activision wing of the Xbox empire, but for now, the franchise as a whole is still in a good place.