Can Among Us be more than a party game?
How the stars aligned for Among Us and what it needs to do to stay in the game
Among Us, developed by 2 friends at InnerSloth in 2018, is arguably the hottest game of 2020. The game took off in the summer of 2020 and racked up 500 million monthly active users in November and 60 million daily active users in September. This is more than some of the most established and popular games across genres and platforms.
This game is so popular that it has become a cultural phenomenon. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez streamed Among Us in October 2020 and many parody songs (here, here) have emerged. Even non-gaming YouTubers such as James Charles (25M subscribers) jumped on the bandwagon. Among Us has truly taken over the internet and is a success by any measure.
But will Among Us continue its successful trajectory and be more than a party game? The stars aligned during the pandemic for the game’s success (more on this later). But times are changing (vaccines are being administered as we speak), the gaming industry is fiercely competitive, players are picky, and copycats are rampant (more on this later too). The game is at a pivotal moment – Among Us needs to innovate or risks being replaced by copycats and becoming less relevant.
In this post, I will
(1) describe how Among Us became a household name (the success factors, game’s core loop, social features and monetization)
(2) dive into why the game is at risk and
(3) suggest ways the game can innovate to remain relevant.
[Author’s Note: This post assumes that InnerSloth wants to make Among Us more than a party game, hence the call to action. It is also lengthy in discussion so feel free to skip ahead to Sections 2 and 3 if you are already familiar with the core loop, social and monetization of the game.]
Section 1.1 – Success Factors
Why is the game so successful? The combination of (A) people longing for social connections during a pandemic, (B) leveraging and innovating upon a proven concept (Mafia), and (C) the incredibly social and streaming-friendly nature of the game cooks up a recipe for success.
A. The pandemic left people longing for social connections. There is always FaceTime, Houseparty and Zoom. But after a while, people want to connect by doing something together.
B. Among Us applied the Proven -> Better -> New framework to Mafia.
Proven: It’s based on a well-known social-deduction game, Mafia. Many players are already familiar with the rules so the barrier to playing is low.
Better: Mafia is a party game typically played offline. Among Us brought it online with a very cohesive gameplay experience.
New: Compared to Mafia, Among Us introduced new mechanics that greatly improved the gaming experience for both “villagers” and “mafia.”
C. The social nature of the game and its streaming compatibility lend itself to emergent gameplay.
Social gaming experiences: Among Us is a game of trust and betrayal. Players’ interactions with one another drive the game forward. Their ability to build an alibi for themselves or lead others astray is the most exciting aspect of the game.
Unique gaming experience: Every game is unique, even when played with the same people.
Stream-able and extremely fun to watch: Influencers stream, interact with their fans and involve them in decision making. Streaming has expanded the player funnel (i.e., acquired millions of players for free) and created millions of hours of content for players consume outside of gameplaying.
Section 1.2 – The Proven -> Better -> New Framework
Proven: well-known game loop
Among Us has a very simple and well-known game loop. It is a slightly modified Mafia. In Among Us, 4 to 10 players are transported to a spaceship where there is (are) imposter(s) among us. The core game loop consists of two phases:
The action phase where crewmates fix the spaceship, and the imposter kills crewmates
The deliberation phase where everyone debates and votes for the imposter
Action phase
Everyone is randomly assigned a role and the game starts in a central meeting area. Crewmates need to fix mechanical issues. The goal is to complete all tasks and avoid being killed. The imposter also gets a list of “fake tasks.” The imposter’s goal is to kill and avoid being caught. Once the imposter kills a crewmate, the dead crewmate can still complete his/her tasks, but s/he is not allowed to speak anymore.
Deliberation phase
If someone calls an emergency meeting or reports a dead body, the whole crew meets for deliberation. Everyone debates and votes for who they believe is imposter. The person receiving the majority vote gets eliminated. If the imposter(s) is voted out, the game ends. If not, the game continues for more rounds until the crewmates or the imposter wins. Crewmates win when all imposters are voted out. The imposter(s) wins when enough crewmates have been eliminated (killed or voted out) and the imposter(s) cannot be voted off.
Better: natural online gaming experience
Mafia is typically played offline and in-person, which is quite hard during the pandemic. Playing Among Us online with friends made socializing during the pandemic much easier. The deliberation phase is also not forced until someone reports or calls for a meeting.
New: innovative mechanics for crewmates and imposters
In fact, the online gameplay was so good that I even played Among US in-person during one of my socially distanced gatherings. That is because the game went above and beyond by adding new mechanics. Compared to Mafia, Among Us greatly improved actions and capabilities for both crewmates and imposters. For example,
Crewmates are not inactive during the action phase. They can complete tasks to win or strategically monitor game progress by checking vitals, monitor cameras or review traffic logs. Or they can simply stick with other players to avoid being singled out as easy prey.
Dead crewmates can still participate and help win by completing tasks.
Imposters can teleport to different section of the spaceship through vents. They can also sabotage the spaceship to distract crewmates, direct crewmate traffic to or away from certain areas, block entry into or exit from an area or simply create more tasks for crewmates. This creates confusion among crewmates and kill opportunities, therefore increasing the skill cap required to execute clean kills.
These new mechanics enable alternative winning/losing scenarios and make the game more fun for players of all roles.
Section 1.3 – Social Features
Social gameplay
Among Us is a party game at heart. Indeed, playing with others is what makes the game interesting and challenging. It is a game of trust and betrayal – you don’t know who’s lying until the end. Thanks to Among Us, words like “sus” and “marinate” have new definitions – the former describes someone whose actions or words indicate suspicious activities, and the latter refers to tactics where imposter intentionally “hang out” with certain crewmates to establish credible alibi.
Communication and teamwork are required to succeed. The deliberation and voting phase is arguably the most fun part of the game. This phase allows players to strategize, collaborate and create their own unique gaming experience. No two sessions are the same, even if they are with the same members on the same map.
Unfortunately, the game only supports text chat. Players have worked around this issue by using 3rd party audio systems, such as Discord or launched audio-enabled mods such as proximity chat.
Streaming
I don’t think Among Us was designed as a game for streaming, but the result is just perfect. In my previous post, I mentioned that user generated content (UGC) will be an important avenue for gamers and fans to consume more content. Compared to other games on the top streamed list, Among Us and Fall Guys stick out as party games. The influencer community on YouTube and Twitch picked up Among Us in August and within 2 months, the game was watched for ~230 million hours. For the first time, the biggest influencers(e.g., James Charles, ~25M subscribers) and streamers (e.g., Corpse ~6M subscribers, DisguisedToast ~3M subscribers and Valkyrae ~3M subscribers) came together for an unscripted experience. No game has done that before. Each streamer brought in a different set of viewers, magnifying the reach and social connectedness of the game. This community singlehanded drove installs for Among Us – the game was downloaded 85 million times in 45 days. [SW1] My friend loves watching Among Us so much that he compares it to watching a Gaming Reality TV show: “the combination of personality clashes and ‘psychological warfare’ is just so addictive.”
In October, US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) also streamed Among Us on Twitch. More than 435K people tuned in concurrently to watch her. For context, this puts AOC’s stream in the top five of most concurrent viewers on a Twitch stream. The record is still held by Ninja’s Fortnite stream with Drake, which hit more than 600K concurrent viewers.
Streaming has widened the funnel (i.e., acquired a lot of players) and sustained the popularity (i.e., created many hours of content) for the game.
Section 1.4 – Monetization
When stars align and players love your game, they are willing to spend money. Among Us began monetizing in the summer and has made ~$40 million in net booking in 3 months on the mobile platform. This amount includes in-app purchases (IAP) such as cosmetics (ranging from $2 to $10) and a one-time ad removal fee of $2. Only 1 person of the party needs to pay for ad removal – the ad free experience is shared with the group. This is an extremely player-friendly feature since players receiving that benefit will now associate this payment as an act of generosity and possibly pay it forward, rather than view the payment negatively.
The $40 million does not include ad revenue (ads are placed in between each game) and PC / console sales ($5). If we assume the same level of IAP spending for the year, the annualized net booking would be $160 million ($40 million x 4 quarters = $160 million). ARPDAU, calculated as bookings divided by DAU divided by 365 days, is an important measure of monetization in the gaming industry. Assuming 60 million DAU, $160 million of net bookings implies an ARPDAU of ~$0.007. If we make an aggressive assumption that ads have the same monetization level (for context, most games are either IAP or ads heavy and Among Us is the prior), net bookings would be $320 million, still on the lower end compared to the industry for casual games.
On one hand, the numbers confirm that Among Us is very player-friendly and not overtly monetizing its audience. On the other hand, this means that there is an opportunity to dial up monetization either via ads or IAP. Increasing the number or length of ads between games is not recommended. It comes at a significant cost of impacting gameplay. Current ad integration is probably already at a ceiling (~30 seconds between games). IAP is the way to go but is currently limited to cosmetics. Improving cosmetic monetization is a short-term objective. A more robust game economy and heavier IAP monetization would be appropriate if the gameplay becomes deeper and content cadence more consistent.
Now that we have talked about the game’s success factors, core loop, social features, and monetization, let’s dive into the good, bad and ugly of Among Us.
Section 2.1 – The Good: Low Graphical Fidelity
We’ve known for a while that graphical fidelity isn’t the most important aspect of gameplay, especially for casual games like Among Us. However, in the case of Among Us, low graphical fidelity not only enhanced gameplay, but it also propelled the game to success. Low graphical fidelity
Enabled high participation because hardware is not a barrier to play. Everyone with a smartphone and stable internet connection could play Among Us. In fact, 97% of players are on mobile
Allowed players to focus on the fun and player-to-player interaction
Espoused a massive meme culture, especially around the famous characters in spacesuits
Section 2.2 – The Bad: [Relatively] Simple Gameplay
Among Us is a fun game, but in its current state, it is just a party game. It is easy to pick up. It is also easy to drop.
Why?
Because it lacks the so what. So what if I win or lose this game? Those who love Among Us for the social aspect will return if their friends are playing. But what happens when we can meet in person again? Or if there is a better Among Us?
The so what of a game is called the secondary game loop (or long-term progression). The secondary game loop is what happens outside the core game loop over a longer time horizon (for example, day to day). It includes getting a high score, unlocking items and levels, and hitting milestone markers. The secondary game loop is critical because it motivates players to come back for more. For example, players enjoy Candy Crush for matching and finishing the level (core game loop) but continue to play to progress on the Saga (secondary game loop).
Among Us does not have a secondary game loop – there is no bigger objective or milestone for players to work on. Once the imposter or the crewmates win, the game ends. As a result, it is very easy for players to move onto another copycat game, since there is nothing (e.g., ranking, progression) to lose. Currently, a button on the homepage shows a player’s stats (e.g., win / loss rate, bodies reported) but this is positioned more as data points and less as a “badge of honor.” Once the game’s hype goes away or streamers stop creating content, Among Us could revert to party-game status (e.g., board games or Jackbox) where players only engage with their friends during get togethers.
Section 2.3 – The Ugly: Competition
InnerSloth has tough competition ahead. Innovation can lead to breakout success, but fast followers are replicating them faster. The popularity of Among Us has attracted copycats in the US and abroad. Pretend is a PC game that has a similar gameplay taking place in an office. In October, a Chinese copycat, Werewolf Among Us shot to the top of the Chinese App store in downloads.
Even Fortnite joined the party in December and decided to capitalize on Among Us’s success. By leveraging their recent integration with the Houseparty app (also Epic owned), which adds a video chat feature for players to utilize in-game, and their extremely agile development processes, Fortnite launched a new limited time mode called Spy Withinin their latest update. Now players can enjoy the experience of Among Us in Fortnite and utilize video chat while doing so, something that Among Us can’t yet offer.
Cloning is prevalent in the gaming industry and isn’t limited to Fortnite. 2019 was the year of Autochess (launched Jan 4, 2019), popularized by small studio Drodo. Within a year, Riot came out with Teamfight Tactics (June 26), Valve with Underlords (June) and Blizzard with Hearthstone Battlegrounds (Nov). Today, the question is not if, but when incumbents will replicate this game on their own platform. For InnerSloth and other indie developers: how fast can they figure out their moat and distribution before incumbents copy innovation?
Section 3 – What to do?
Between the bad and ugly, Among Us’s should focus on the prior to further engage and retain players, not only because competition is inevitable, but also because having a committed player base is a moat. Since the game took off, the developers canceled Among Us 2 to focus solely on the existing game. New features and updates include 2 maps, tons of cosmetics, anti-cheat measures and new Switch and Xbox ports. These are all great steps. But they are not enough. InnerSloth needs to hire more developers so the team can work on features and updates that actually move the needle. Below are some suggestions I have that could move the needle, including more content/roles, native audio chat and secondary loop. Suggestions are all premised on InnerSloth hiring more developers.
Issue #1: there is not enough content and the game can easily become boring; players can only access 3 maps and 2 roles (crewmate or imposters)
Solution: add new rotating maps; add more roles like minion and troublemaker (inspired by One Night Ultimate Werewolf)
Opportunities: new maps = more content to consume and scarcity; new roles enrich gameplay, add complexity, provide alternative winning strategies
Considerations: new roles could potentially confuse players
Issue #2: it is hard to deliberate and strategize via in-game chat service; text messaging takes away time from deliberation and the messages can also be easily buried; work arounds include 3rd party audio systems such as Discord and new game mods such as proximity chat
Solution: provide in-game audio chat
Opportunities: audio chat can supplement text for a more integrated gaming experience; protects user identity by keeping interactions within game
Considerations: requires investment in technology and integration
Issue #3: there is no secondary loop or progression
Solution: build a user profile to display the user’s avatar, gameplay stats (e.g., 100 plays on Mira map) and progression (e.g., 5 wins as imposter, 10 bodies discovered)
Opportunities: allows players to build and personalize game presence and track progress; increases stickiness and investment for players; enables other social features such as friend list, guild, direct messages
Considerations: could take away anonymity and “fun” of the game
Bonus Issue #4: there is limited competitive play, since there is no ranking or matchmaking; it is also very hard for players develop mastery as crew member or imposter since roles are always randomized
Solution: introduce a new public lobby and queuing system that allow players to queue as crewmate or imposter in a ranked play (inspired by Dead by Daylight)
Opportunities: allows players to compete, earn ranking and build mastery in a role (e.g., either as imposter or crewmate); increases “end-game” content for competitive players
Considerations: investment in sophisticated matchmaking system; potential for lopsided matchmaking time since choice tends to skew to imposter; potential to alienate casual players
Closing Thoughts
Among Us has captured the attention of 500 million people. That’s an incredible opportunity that 99.9% of game studios do not have. I sincerely hope that the InnerSloth team can capitalize on this moment and grow Among Us and their studio into greatness. The gaming industry is hyper competitive and studios hold onto successful IPs for a long time. As a result, we rarely see breakthrough ideas or games. I hope the success of Among Us inspires other indie studios and friends/family to keep pursuing their passion. I also hope that the InnerSloth team can prove the industry wrong – that it is possible to make it big and make it last.
Thank you for reading and Happy New Year. I also want to thank my friends for proofreading and giving me feedback. If you found my thoughts helpful or interesting, subscribe for more content, leave a comment below, or message me directly on LinkedIn. I welcome any feedback and suggestions.