Among Us is the surprise hit of 2020, mostly because it’s a game that originally came out in 2018. The murder mystery game is perfect for remote online play and full of drama, and its ascendence on Twitch has caused a belated explosion in popularity in recent days. That popularity was years in the making, though, and it’s created an interesting problem for developer Innersloth: what work goes into improving a viral hit and what goes into making a sequel, Among Us 2?
Developer Innersloth wrote an update for its many new fans on Wednesday that detailed some upcoming adds and fixes to the game, as well as what the future holds for what the company would work on moving forward. And despite some issues with what the original Among Us was built on, the team revealed that the game’s massive rise in popularity has made them decide to officially cancel Among Us 2 and focus on adding more content to the game currently taking over Twitch.
The post noted “several long discussions” about what Among Us 2 could be, and the difficulties of working on additional content for the original game. But popularity seems to have won out, and for good reason.
The main reason we are shooting for a sequel is because the codebase of Among Us 1 is so outdated and not built to support adding so much new content. However, seeing how many people are enjoying Among Us 1 really makes us want to be able to support the game and take it to the next level. We have decided to cancel Among Us 2 and instead put all our focus into improving Among Us 1. All of the content we had planned for Among Us 2 will instead go into Among Us 1. This is probably the more difficult choice because it means going deep into the core code of the game and reworking several parts of it. We have lots of things planned and we’re excited to bring new content to everyone as you continue to enjoy playing!
The Itch.io post noted more servers, a new stage and other improvements are on the horizon, including a friend system that they noted may take some time. They also hope to make the game playable for those who are colorblind and might struggle to identify killers by, well, color. It’s all good news for players who have fallen in love with the game, as more developer support is always a good sign for a title’s lifespan. It’s tough to stay alive in Among Us, but it looks like the game’s makers plan to keep it alive well into the future.