Recently the game Among Us has sky-rocketed to fame other the months of quarantine, with many international players using the online platform in November, and the numbers only increasing as the viral trend takes hold.
Among Us, despite being released in 2018 has been one of the most successful games of 2020. Many streamers on platforms such as twitch used lockdown to begin streaming the game, and from there the popularity only increased at a highly unprecedented rate.
Among Us is a video game which can be played on PC and more advanced gaming software, or handheld devices such as tablets. This diversity of platform can attribute to its success, as the high quality streamers can play the game on more advanced software, and fans can recreate what they watch for a lower cost on their mobile telephones and tablets. This is similar to the reasons the old viral game Fortnite became so popular, as people could watch professionals play it online, then also play themselves on mobile. This makes Among us appealing not only to the streamers but also the majority of the audience, allowing more players to get involved.
What is Among Us? Among Us is based on an old children’s game called ‘Mafia’ where one person is assigned the role of murderer and has to try and remove their opponents before they are caught. However, Among Us took this basic game and placed it in a more exciting online and science fiction based setting. The game consists of 10 crew mates who are assigned tasks to complete on a space ship, however two people (or sometimes one or three in different variations) are imposters. The imposters then have to kill the other cremates before the crew mates finish their tasks, or before the imposter gets caught.
It is a highly exhilarating game and it’s popularity is only set to increase with exposure, not only from gamers but influencers and major celebrities. One example is James Charles a beauty guru on YouTube who has millions of subscribers for his beauty based content, but has begun streaming the game, and even playing with other famous gamers such as Lazarbeam, an Australian gamer who became popular from the old viral phenomenon Fortnite.
But has Among Us replaced Fortnite? Fortnite has slowly been losing support over the last year, and has become a focus for more dedicated gamers. This means that if you try to play the game it is often not entertaining for less experienced players, as they are easily beaten by those who have been playing the same game for years. This has meant Fortnite lost its viral nature, as the average player would not be able to play the game as easily as they did at the beginning of Fortnite’s success in 2018. Among Us does not have this problem, it’s simple design and layout allow anyone to play successfully, as the skill is based on deduction and thinking, rather than video game skills and practice. This allows success to be more easily attainable for Among Us fans, which makes people want to keep playing. Similar to Fortnite when it was first launched back in April 2018.
A clear representation of its popularity is that some schools have taken to banning the game on school tablets and laptops as it is believed to be a distraction for students. Many students have been caught playing the game in lessons, and schools have taken the necessary action to bring back the attention of their students. However, this shows how much popularity the game has, that not only are students disrupting their learning for the game, but it is common enough for some schools to begin blocking the app on school software.
Since the launch of Fortnite they have have dominated the market for viral video games, and Among Us has been the first contender for its attention. However, to the gaming community, although the game is fun and entertaining to watch, Fortnite still holds more prominence as it requires greater skill, and tends to be played by other gamers; rather than Among Us which is often played by people who have little or no experience in gaming, which can be vexing to dedicated gamers. However, this was a similar attitude that people held when Fortnite originally came out, showing how trends and popularity can change very rapidly in the gaming world.
However, we will have to wait and see if this viral trend of Among Us becomes a truly respected game like Fortnite or if it the popularity will burn out, and the world will move onto a new trend.
