Among Us has been on quite the journey in the last few years. Released in 2018, Innersloth's social deduction game failed to make a splash at first; the indie developer has even mentioned that it had largely given up on Among Us shortly after its launch. However, in 2020, exploded in popularity with the help of Twitch streamers and YouTubers giving the colorful secret traitor title a chance. Among Us proved to be a great multiplayer title for the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that surge, Innersloth cancelled plans to make an Among Us sequel, instead directing its energy into large-scale updates for the first game.
The original Among Us has reaped notable benefits from the shift, gaining new roles, maps, and progression sytems for fans to enjoy. Still, Among Us' popularity has waned significantly since its peak, in spite of several high-profile crossovers with the indie game. Ongoing updates have been welcomed by fans, but so far, they've largely failed to make Among Us the sensational title that it once was. In order for the IP to reclaim its previous heights of hype, a proper Among Us sequel that truly reinvents the game may be needed.
The Road Ahead for Among Us
The streamers and YouTubers who made Among Us faces have largely moved on to greener pastures. Some entertainers like Disguised Toast still make occasional Among Us content, but for the most part, they've resumed focusing on their usual games or returned to variety schedules. At the same time, the Among Us player base has dwindled significantly. While the drop in popularity could have something to do with streamers moving away from the game, Innersloth's fairly slow update release schedule could have also contributed to the decline. Among Us is slow to change, meaning it has a harder time staying fresh.
Slow, modest updates are understandable, since Innersloth is a very small team, but nevertheless, it's clear that these updates aren't enough to maintain Among Us dominance. The best way forward may be to reinvent the franchise completely with a proper sequel. Innersloth could take Among Us' stable state as a chance to maintain the first game while starting work on Among Us 2 again. If it uses its new fame and fortune to majorly expand its development team or collaborate with other studios, Innersloth might be able to keep delivering updates while assembling a proper sequel on the side.
A sequel may be the key to making Among Us huge again because it would be a chance for the IP to reinvent itself. Updates have already slowly changed the first game, but ultimately Among Us is still largely the same game, except with a new map and other content inspired by mods. Among Us 2 could draw in new interest with entirely different maps, major task reworks, new deduction mechanics, and any number of other new features. Innersloth doesn't necessarily want to force the first game's fans to relearn the original game, so it could keep the first Among Us as it is while releasing a sequel that plays differently. New mechanics in a new game could be what the IP needs.
Admittedly there's still hope that the next few months of years will bring Among Us back to the forefront without a sequel. Among Us VR is still around the corner, and while it's unclear just how much content the VR version will offer, it could be a valuable change of pace for the IP. If Among Us VR doesn't prove to be the second wind the franchise needs, however, then it might be time for Innersloth to return to the idea for a sequel. Regardless of how Innersloth approaches sequel development, it seems more and more clear that Among Us may need a sequel soon.
Among Us is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.