It is a Fad — or will it stick around?
Anyone who has touched the internet has seen the startling and sudden success of Among Us, yet another version of the popular party game ‘Mafia’. The game originally released in 2018, but it wasn’t until this August that Among Us saw any level of popularity. Big streamers and YouTubers kicked off a chain of events that led to millions of daily active users, a huge success for InnerSloth, the devs behind the game.
This story might sound sensational, but this is becoming the rule for trends on Twitch and YouTube. Small indie games are seeing huge success. Every indie dev is hoping that they are the next Moving Out, the next Fall Guys, and now, the next Among Us. But how long does this success last? Can small studios safely invest in the teams needed to maintain a large popular game? Or are these games just a blip on the radar as we all wait for the launch of Cyberpunk?
Why is Among Us so appealing?
We’ve all been stuck inside, for a while now. We don’t have as many birthday parties or weddings. We aren’t travelling, we lack new experiences, and we miss our friends. Human beings are social creatures and video games have been a great way for us to be social for a long time. In the midst of a global pandemic, they have become one of the only ways to be social. But why is Among Us winning?
Lock down began with us all visiting each other on our cute islands and making friends with various animal villagers. Now we have turned to playing at being trapped together in space desperately trying to fix broken parts and pointing fingers at anyone we suspect might be the murderer hiding among us. (Yes this concept is stolen from a tweet that seems impossible to google for. Hopefully it will turn up and can be properly linked soon).
Among Us provides the social aspect that many people miss from the pre-pandemic days. Mafia has always been popular, with big esports production studio BeyondtheSummit even running their own Mafia events back in the day. Now, people can play it online. The lobbies are private, most people play with their friends, and there are no wall hacks or aim assist or matchmaking rankings to worry about. The game may not be as cheerful as Animal Crossing or colorful as Fall Guys, but it works on all kinds of internet connections and isn’t reliant on battle passes and new cosmetics to keep the player base engaged. Among Us represents the closest game we have to simulating the social interactions we want to have, but can’t. Toss in the fact that it doesn’t take five minutes to visit an island (like Animal Crossing) and that if the servers go down in one region, you can queue halfway around the world and not be too bothered by the increased ping.
Honestly, there is something freeing about socially acceptable arguing, suspicion, and democratically approved murder.
How long will Among Us Last?
Games blow up on Twitch all the time, but they all eventually fade from popularity. In theory. (Fornite really seems to be holding strong, but they do have the massive Epic behind them ensuring it). Among Us is currently filling a niche, but it is incredibly one dimensional. Mediatonic, the creators of Fall Guys, might be able to get away with increasing their team size and a horde of new job postings, but Among Us may not want to pull that trigger quite yet. Casual games that don’t provide progression, loot box collector mechanics, and the ‘games as a service’ model can struggle to keep their audience hooked. Eventually, people will get tired of that one friend who is an absolutely awful imposter. Someone else feels like they seem to die first in every single round. Streamers will jump onto the new hot game to keep their audience around and hit new metrics. Among Us won’t fade to complete obscurity, but it also isn’t a game that can fit in well with the constant content updates required to keep it relevant. And honestly — it shouldn’t try to stay on top.
Sometimes, it’s okay for a game to have simple graphics and concepts. The classics stick around, even if they don’t stay at a record smashing level, and there is something to be valued in simplicity.
For now, do everything you can to avoiding being too sus, and be careful of red.
