Dispatch was originally envisioned in 2018 as an interactive live-action TV series. It was to be a "superhero workplace comedy" inspired by the "This Is SportsCenter" series of commercials for the sports news show SportsCenter. Creative director Dennis Lenart stated that the team had written one season's worth of content for the show before cancelling it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The developers instead focused on other projects like The Wolf Among Us 2, and eventually realized they could rework the show into a video game, taking further writing inspiration from other TV series like "Barry" and "The Bear".

According to the game's art director Derek Stratton, Malevola's outfit was inspired by a similar outfit worn by model and actress Cindy Crawford in a 1992 Pepsi commercial, while her muscular physique was inspired by fitness influencer LeanBeefPatty.