A Nearly Forgotten Party Game Found Its Audience Two Years Later

1. Quiet 2018 Release

Innersloth developed Among Us as an online multiplayer social deduction game. Inspired by Mafia and The Thing, development began in November 2017. The title launched on iOS and Android in June 2018, followed by Windows in November. Initial player counts remained low, averaging thirty to fifty concurrent users. Studio co-founders attributed the poor launch to inadequate marketing efforts.

The studio nearly abandoned the struggling project.

2. Continued Updates

Despite low sales, the development team continued releasing incremental updates. They introduced online multiplayer, customization options, and new maps including MIRA HQ and Polus. Programmer Forest Willard managed server stability while working extended hours. A small but vocal player base sustained the project through steady updates. These updates slowly expanded the active community over two years.

Steady updates gradually grew the player base.

3. Pandemic Streaming Surge

During 2020, larger Twitch and YouTube creators began broadcasting the game, including Sodapoppin, xQc and PewDiePie. Their streams brought it to audiences well beyond its earlier player base during the pandemic. By September, reports put total downloads above 100 million and peak concurrent players at about 3.8 million. The game had been available since 2018 before that increase in attention.

Streams brought new players to a game released two years earlier.

4. Server Overload

The sudden influx of millions of players overwhelmed existing server infrastructure. Willard worked under intense pressure to stabilize the free Amazon servers. Hackers targeted public lobbies in October 2020 with spam and political messages. Innersloth deployed emergency patches to mitigate widespread disruption. The development team shifted priorities to address technical debt and security vulnerabilities.

Server infrastructure struggled with sudden traffic.

5. Sequel Cancellation

In August 2020, Innersloth initially announced plans for a dedicated sequel. Developers realized the original codebase was too outdated to support future expansions. On September 24, 2020, the studio cancelled the sequel project. They redirected all development resources toward reworking the original game. Planned sequel features were integrated into the existing codebase instead.

Developers cancelled the sequel to update codebase.

6. Expanding Platforms

The studio partnered with external developers to launch console ports. A Nintendo Switch version arrived in December 2020 with cross-platform play. PlayStation and Xbox console editions followed in December 2021. Console releases featured platform-specific cosmetic crossovers with Halo and Ratchet & Clank. Physical retail editions shipped in Europe and North America.

Console ports expanded cross-platform availability.

7. Cultural Phenomenon

Among Us appeared in livestreams beyond its original gaming audience during 2020. In October, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played it on Twitch with other participants, including Ilhan Omar, in an event encouraging voter participation. The stream used the same rounds of discussion and voting that players had been sharing online during the game’s rise in popularity.

The older game was now reaching audiences through large public streams.

8. New Roles Added

A major gameplay update in November 2021 introduced four distinct roles. Engineers, Scientists, Guardian Angels, and Shapeshifters changed tactical gameplay dynamics. The update also added a progression level system, custom keybinds, and cosmetic Cosmicubes. Subsequent updates added Hide and Seek game modes and additional colors. These additions provided fresh challenges for veteran players.

New character roles expanded tactical options.

9. Cross-Game Collaborations

Innersloth partnered with major studios for crossover cosmetic events. Fall Guys, Fortnite, and Vampire Survivors integrated characters and items. Epic Games introduced an impostor-style game mode in Fortnite that drew public frustration from Innersloth developers. The dispute ended when Epic credited Innersloth in later updates. Collaborative skins extended the brand's visibility across multiple platforms.

Collaborative events integrated characters across titles.

10. Lasting Franchise Growth

Innersloth canceled the planned Among Us sequel in September 2020 and moved the intended work into the existing game. The decision followed the original’s rise in players two years after release. The team had to work on servers and updates while the audience was already playing. The revival therefore changed the development plan for the released game, rather than requiring everyone to move to a new sequel.

The sequel was canceled so work could continue on the original.

Sources

• Original narrative adaptation — CC BY-SA 4.0
• Wikipedia contributors — Among Us (CC BY-SA 4.0)