AdHoc Studio ships Dispatch to mobile on December 9 at $19.99

AdHoc Studio will launch Dispatch on iOS and Android on December 9, 2026, pricing the full eight-episode game at $19.99 and giving away the first four episodes for free. The studio says the title has already attracted more than five million players since its debut roughly a year earlier.

The mobile release follows a familiar premium-distribution pattern: a free on-ramp covering half the season, with a single one-time unlock replacing ads, subscriptions or per-episode purchases. For a narrative game with eight episodes, the $19.99 price point positions Dispatch mobile alongside premium ports rather than free-to-play titles, and it removes monetization mechanics such as gacha or energy systems from the equation entirely.

What changes on mobile?

AdHoc Studio has rebuilt Dispatch for touch controls rather than porting a gamepad or mouse interface, and the mobile version supports vertical (portrait) play — an unusual choice for a narrative adventure, but one that fits phone-native habits. Players can pre-register on Google Play or pre-order via the App Store ahead of launch.

The pricing split matters operationally: with episodes one through four free, the studio is effectively running a four-episode trial at no cost, then converting players at the midpoint of the season. Whether conversion holds above typical trial-to-paid rates will be one metric worth tracking after launch.

How big is the audience?

The five-million-player figure is AdHoc Studio's own count, not an independently verified install or sales number, and the studio has not broken it down by platform or paid tier. Even so, it signals meaningful reach for a studio-founded, independently published narrative title in a market where story-driven games often struggle to find scale without a platform subscription attached.

What else is AdHoc doing at the anniversary?

The mobile announcement coincides with Dispatch's first anniversary, and the studio is layering several initiatives around the launch window:

• A free update for existing deluxe edition owners, shipping alongside the mobile release
• New merchandise and physical comics tied to the property
• A live soundtrack concert in Los Angeles on December 3, six days before the mobile launch

The timing ties community-facing events to a distribution expansion, a sequence designed to convert anniversary attention into pre-registrations before December 9.

Co-creative director and COO Nick Herman framed the studio's process as central to the game's identity. "Dispatch was only possible because of folks who believed in it enough to show up and do their best work," Herman said.

He added that the studio saw an opening to make development itself visible: "In our industry, it's often really hard to showcase those people and how the development process actually works, but fortunately our game is very weird and specific and affords us some unique opportunities."

What to watch

The December 9 launch sets a concrete test: whether a four-episode free trial at a $19.99 unlock can convert a five-million-player installed base into mobile buyers. Pre-registration counts on Google Play and the App Store before launch will offer the first read on demand, and AdHoc's decision on whether to extend the free tier or adjust pricing after the first quarter on store will signal how the premium-trial model performs on mobile.