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Innersloth’s data following the fourth quarter success of Among Us in 2020, revealed that the last three months of the previous year saw an incredible 221.38 million hours watched.
Among Us reportedly also saw 103.8 million unique viewers, and over a billion viewing sessions, showing just how massive Among Us truly was for the tail end of 2020. Though it seems strange to imagine, Among Us has reshaped the way players think of gaming online, and changed what social multiplayer games can look like.
How Among Us changed multiplayer
Prior to Among Us catching on with the wider gaming audience, most multiplayer games came in just two varieties - cooperative and competitive. When playing with friends, most players only really chose between these two opposites, and the selected dynamic meant that players were often locked into a very fixed way of playing.
In cooperative games, players work together towards a single goal, while in competitive games players are more interested in scoring wins over their friends. Among Us blurs this line, and the dynamic system created by the game caused players to explore a new social landscape in their games.
Among Us, more than any other game, makes intrigue and subterfuge a core aspect of the game. It’s very hard to play a cooperative game where lying to teammates might help, and in competitive games, it’s not likely that opponents will decide to work together.
In Among Us, these become core aspects of the game, as imposters are constantly trying to trick crewmates, and sow distrust among the team.
Among Us catches on, becomes a staple game on Twitch
The novelty of a game like Among Us created an excellent dynamic for streamers, and proved to be a hotbed for entertaining content. This naturally drew in a sizable audience and helped the game catch on.
In just three months time, Among Us went from a small niche game played in small corners of the internet to one of the biggest and most influential games online. There was a time when the fastest growing Twitch channels were all Among Us streamers, turning the game into one of the best ways for newer or smaller content creators to get noticed.
Hopefully future updates to the game will help sustain such a massive audience and it will be interesting to follow along with the development over time.
