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Dispatch (video game)
2025 video game From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dispatch is an episodic adventure game developed by AdHoc Studio. The game consists of eight episodes, with the first two released on PlayStation 5 and Windows on October 22, 2025. The remaining episodes are set to be released in weekly pairs, concluding on November 12, 2025.
Described as a superhero workplace comedy, Dispatch has the player take the role of Robert Robertson, formerly the superhero Mecha Man, who has to take a job as a dispatcher for villains-turned-superheroes after his signature mecha suit is destroyed in battle.[2] Its cast most notably includes the voices of Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, Erin Yvette, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham and Matthew Mercer, as well as content creators Jacksepticeye, MoistCr1TiKaL, Joel Haver and Alanah Pearce. The game sold over 1 million units within the first 10 days of release.
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Gameplay
Dispatch is an adventure video game, where the player's choices affect the story via the use of dialogue trees in conversations with other characters. A large form of the gameplay consists of navigating a superhero team across the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) map to crimes and events, where the player must strategically decide which hero or heroes best fit the activity based on their stats and character traits, while also managing their cooldowns. The game also features a hacking mini-game, where the player must quickly navigate pathways and complete quick time events.[3]
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Plot
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This is a broad overview of the plot. Certain decisions made by the player will alter details of specific events.
Episode 1: Pivot
In Torrance, California, Robert Robertson III, is a third-generation superhero without powers, dubbed "Mecha Man." In an attempt to track down his father's killer, Shroud, Robert is lured into a trap by his henchman, Toxic, where his mech suit sustains heavy damage in an ambush before an explosion totals it, resulting in Robert retiring from superhero work indefinitely. After failing to stop a robbery without his suit, Robert is rescued by Blonde Blazer, a corporate superhero who offers him a job at her company, the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN), as a dispatcher. In exchange, SDN will fund the repairs needed to restore his suit. She shows him a simulation of the job experience and he accepts.
Episode 2: Onboard
Robert starts his first day at SDN where he reunites with Track Star, an old family friend who has retired and now goes by the name Chase. Blonde Blazer and Chase introduce Robert to his team, the Z-Team, a group of former villains seeking redemption through the Phoenix Program. Robert begins dispatching, but the team doesn't take him seriously. A mishap occurs when team member, Invisigal, disobeys a direct order from Robert during a mission, resulting in an explosion that injures an innocent bystander, and allows the perpetrator, Lightningstruck, to get away. This leads to a heated argument between Robert and Invisigal, with him disregarding her as a hero. After discussions with Blonde Blazer and Chase who express low expectations, Robert believes they should give him the opportunity to earn their respect. Blonde Blazer agrees to fully introduce the team to him before leaving with her boyfriend, Phenomaman.
Episode 3: Turnover
With the help of SDN's mechanic, Royd, Robert moves his mech suit to SDN headquarters to begin repairs. Robert then meets with Blonde Blazer to learn that she has broken up with Phenomaman. She also reveals that Robert must cut one member from the Z-Team by the end of the day. Because of this news, team members begin sabotaging each other during missions, complicating Robert's dispatching efforts. A motivational meeting helps improve teamwork, but Invisigal eventually quits. Robert finds her at a playground, encouraging her to believe in herself. With Robert's help, she successfully captures Lightningstruck, which helps her rise in the team ranks, but leaving Robert to make the difficult decision of cutting either Coupé or Sonar.
Episode 4: Restructure
Invisigal has a sexual dream about Robert, sparking a potential connection while Robert deals with unhappy Z-Team members after the recent termination decision. Blonde Blazer seeks Robert's help with talking to a depressed Phenomaman, who due to his alien nature, expresses a lack of understanding about their breakup. Later, Invisigal approaches Robert in the bathroom, confessing her feelings for him, before being interrupted. Robert then has the decision to add either Waterboy or Phenomaman to the team. At the end of the tumultuous workday with the newly added member, Robert has the choice of joining Invisigal on a movie date or joining Blonde Blazer on a late-night dinner date on the lot of the SDN headquarters.
Episode 5: Team Building
Robert finds out that there's a betting pool within the Z-Team speculating on which superhero he was. Later that night, the Z-Team invite him out to a villain bar. As Robert sits down for a drink with Invisigal, she encourages him to reveal his identity, where Robert admits his reluctance due to Mecha Man and Flambae's rivalry. One of the bar-goers recognizes Invisigal and starts a fight with the team, where a majority of the patrons are revealed to be part of the Red Ring, Shroud's league of enhanced supervillains. Following the fight, they head out to get tacos where Robert has the option to tell them of his identity as Mecha Man or keep his identity a secret. If he reveals his identity, Flambae gets enraged and attacks him, then leaves after the others back up Robert. Either way, the Z-Team reveal their real names to Robert, accepting him as one of them.
Episode 6: Moving Parts
Robert tries on the Mecha Man suit again, but it begins to malfunction and suddenly explodes with him in it. Robert wakes up hours later in the infirmary, where Royd tells Robert that since he can't recreate the Astral Pulse, he fears that Mecha Man is done for good. Chase warns Robert about trusting Invisigal despite Robert insisting she can be trusted before returning to work. Later, at his home, the Z-Team give Robert a house-warming party, where plans arise to find the Astral Pulse. After Chase drunkenly berates Invisigal, she leaves, deciding to get it herself before being ambushed by the Red Ring. While she is able to get it, Shroud rises from the shadows and attacks her, stealing the Pulse and leaving her gasping for air. Despite his prior disdain towards Invisigal, Chase uses his powers to save her and then collapses.
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Cast and characters
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- Aaron Paul as Robert Robertson III / Mecha Man - A third generation, powerless superhero forced into retirement after the destruction of his mech suit, he secures a job at SDN as a dispatcher in order to earn finances to repair his suit. His main goal is to track down his father's murderer.
- Jeffrey Wright as Chase / Track Star - A former member of the Brave Brigade and old friend of Robert’s father who recommends Robert for the job. His power is acceleration, but it causes his body to age 50 times faster than normal, leading him to appear 80 years old at 39, so he retires to preserve the remainder of his life and works in the hero records database for SDN.
- Erin Yvette as Mandy / Blonde Blazer - A corporate superhero for hire with the power of flight, super strength, and a resistance to toxins, CEO of SDN's Los Angeles division, and Phenomaman's ex-girlfriend, who takes a chance on Robert as a dispatcher.
- Laura Bailey as Courtney / Invisigal - A former villain, formerly known as Invisibitch, and low-ranking member of the Z-Team who discovers Robert's identity as Mecha Man. She enrolled in the Phoenix Program to redeem herself as a hero, but her rebellious streak often gets her into trouble. She has the power of invisibility whenever she holds her breath, the drawback is that she is asthmatic and needs an inhaler to keep her powers going.
- MoistCr1TiKaL[c] as Victor / Sonar - A highly intelligent man/bat hybrid who can transform into a large bat monster, and member of the Z-Team.
- Lance Cantstopolis as Chad / Flambae - A former supervillain turned hero, former nemesis of Mecha Man, and member of the Z-Team. He has the power of pyrokinesis, but while his skin is invulnerable to fire, his hair is not.
- Mayanna Berrin as Janelle / Coupé - A former assassin with the power of umbrakinesis and flight, and member of the Z-Team.
- Jacksepticeye[d] as Colm / Punch Up - A carnival strongman from Galway, and member of the Z-Team, with the strength of ten men given to him by a sorceress in exchange for half his height, with an immunity to pain. McLoughlin did not want to portray his character as stereotypically Irish, so he gave the character a Dublin accent.
- Alanah Pearce as Malevola Gibb - A broadsword wielding demoness with the power to create portals, and member of the Z-Team.
- Yung Gravy[e] as Bruno / Golem - A magical construct made entirely of dirt and clay, and member of the Z-Team.
- Thot Squad[f] as Alice / Prism - A pop star and influencer with the power of photokinesis, and member of the Z-Team.
- Joel Haver as Herman "Herm" / Waterboy - A janitor at SDN and potential candidate for the Z-Team with the power to spray water from his mouth.
- Travis Willingham as Katon-Ur / Phenomaman - A highly regarded hero-for-hire from a distant planet, public face for SDN and potential candidate for the Z-Team with the power of extreme flight and super strength, as well as Blonde Blazer's ex-boyfriend, now fallen from grace after their breakup.
- Tanoai Reed as Roy / Royd - A hulking superhero and mechanic for SDN who is secretly repairing Mecha Man's suit and knows Robert's identity as Mecha Man.
- Nimesh Patel as Galen - a fellow dispatcher of SDN with the power of super hearing who teaches Robert the basics of his job.
- Liam O'Brien as Kellen Sebastian / Lightningstruck - A minor villain with electroshock blasters.
- Jared Goldstein as Toxic - A high-ranking member of Shroud's league of villains, with the power of acidity, flight, and self-healing.
- Matthew Mercer as Elliot Connors / Shroud - A former member of the Brave Brigade who turned supervillain and murdered Robert's father in cold blood, who's on the hunt for the Astral Pulse.
Jenn An, Billy Christos Jr., Brian Dobson, Liv Hamilton, Taliesin Jaffe, Isaac Jay, Ashley Johnson, Frankie Quiñones, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Kelly Sheridan, Vincent Tong, and Sam Vincent all provide additional voices to the game.[4]
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Development
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The game was developed by AdHoc Studio, a team made up of former Telltale Games developers that worked on The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Tales from the Borderlands. The project was initially envisioned to be live action, and the team was inspired by This Is SportsCenter commercials from ESPN. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was shut down, and the studio's attention pivoted to other games such as The Wolf Among Us 2. The project eventually was repurposed into Dispatch.[5]
The game was announced on December 12, 2024, at The Game Awards. The game features an ensemble cast consisting of Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, Laura Bailey, Erin Yvette, Travis Willingham, Matthew Mercer, Seán McLoughlin (jacksepticeye), Charlie White (MoistCr1TiKaL), Alanah Pearce, Joel Haver, Lance Cantstopolis, Thot Squad, and Yung Gravy.[6][7]
A demo for the game was released on May 29, 2025, to overwhelmingly positive Steam reviews and was featured in the 2025 Tribeca Festival.[7]
On July 21, 2025, Critical Role Productions announced a partnership with AdHoc Studio for Dispatch merchandise, tabletop gaming, and an animated series. The partnership also included AdHoc co-developing a new game set in the Critical Role universe.[8]
On September 16, 2025, it was announced the game would be released in weekly intervals beginning on October 22 and ending on November 12, 2025. A deluxe edition was also announced that would come with a digital artbook and four digital comics in addition to the main game.[9]
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Episodes
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The game is separated into eight episodes.[10]
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Reception
Critical reception
Dispatch received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[11]
Sales
The game sold over one million units within the first 10 days of release.[12]
Notes
- Animation provided by Igloo Studio and PS5 version ported by Plastic Fern Studios[1]
- Additional music by Skyler Barto
- Credited under his legal name, Charles White
- Credited under his legal name, Seán McLoughlin
- Credited as Matthew "Yung Gravy" Hauri
- Credited as Harvey aka Thot Squad
References
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