Despite being released in June of 2018, the game Among Us exploded into popularity recently with 60 million daily players, according to CNBC.
Among Us is a multiplayer game where up to ten people get together in a space-themed map. There are a certain amount of impostors, then the rest are labeled as crewmates. Crewmates are set to do their tasks and create alibis while impostors try to sabotage and kill off the crewmates without getting caught. Once a body is found, everyone is grouped together to discuss suspects. Games can be played with other people at random or with friends, using a six digit code. This game holds similar characteristics to other classic deduction games such as Mafia or Werewolf.
Developed by the Washington based company InnerSloth, they were quite surprised by the skyrocketing numbers. Among Us was downloaded nearly 42 million times on Steam in the first half of September, according to CNBC. CNBC also stated that “it was downloaded nearly 84 million times on iOS and Android that month”. Among Us can be found on app stores for phones and tablets for free, and on Steam for $4.99.
Since there were so many downloads in recent months, The New York Times stated that over 98,000 teenagers connect to play this game. Since it has become so popular, InnerSloth decided to cancel their original plans for Among Us 2 to focus solely on their first game.
As millions enjoy playing Among Us across the globe, CNBC stated that “the game hasn’t left the top five on Apple’s U.S. App Store since September 1st.”
New Berlin West student Elise Merrill said that Among Us “is pretty easy and it’s organized if that makes sense, but a difficulty that I had could be that the speed that people set for the game can be annoying like some people make it way too slow or too fast.” Since it’s an exciting game, Merrill stated that she plays almost every day.
Although initial gameplay for first time players can be difficult, Tara Price, New Berlin West Student, also mentioned that when she “first played the game it was a little hard since you had to figure out exactly what was happening. Now that I’ve had more experience with the game it’s super fun and easy.”
As of early December, Among Us is the most streamed game on Twitch according to escapistmagazine.com. Large social media influencers like Pewdiepie and James Charles have hopped onto this game to play in front of thousands of viewers. Even Congress Member, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) gave it a go and drew in more than 400,000 concurrent viewers, making “her stream one of the 20 most-watched streams in Twitch history,” stated by Vox.
Large social media stars have influenced many others to play the game for themselves to test their own playstyles. New Berlin West Sophomore Hillary Owusu, mentioned that she heard about the game from a streamer and tried it out by playing with her friends.
To play with friends, teenagers often use Discord, a community platform, to chat. Merrill said, “I’ve used Discord before.”
According to The Verge, “Discord has been hitting a new lifetime high for mobile app downloads every day since September 5th,” because of Among Us’ popularity.
Owusu said that she “made a group chat on Snapchat and muted and unmuted,” to play the game, which is another way of voice chatting. Discord also offers proximity chat that players can use, “I would like to try Discord out one time for the proximity chat since that looks fun because I’ve seen other people do it,” stated Owusu.
Although it took two years for this game to become as successful as it is today, InnerSloth is proud to see passions build-up across the globe, stated by escapistmagazine.com. With the number of concurrent users, Among Us is ought to become even more successful and make internet history.
