On June 15, 2018, Among Us officially released for iOS and Android. The PC version came a few months later on November 16 that year. Although released in 2018, most of us were not aware of the game until 2020. The two-year period of quiet beginnings and then going on to become a global star is one of the best parts of its history.
The entire game was developed by Innersloth, a small studio with only three employees in Washington state. In this article we will cover the entire journey from the start to the present day of Among Us. It’s quite remarkable how a little indie project became such a big success.
Who Made Among Us and When Did Development Start?
The team started working on Among Us in November 2017. They took about seven months to put the game together, which is quite quick for a game like this. The first release was pretty simple, as they moved so quickly that they were only able to include one map.
It is spearheaded by Marcus Bromander, Forest Willard and Amy Liu. The three friends met at Oregon State University and started their own company, Innersloth, back in 2015. The Henry Stickmin Collection was their most popular project before they created Among Us, a series of fun adventure games.
The concept was born out of a combination of factors. Marcus was a big fan of Mafia, a popular party game where you have to guess who the secret liar is. He also took inspiration from the old film The Thing, where no one could be trusted as something dangerous was lurking among the crew. He combined those concepts and launched the game into a spaceship with normal crew members and a few deceptive impostors.
The first test versions were quite different as players had little time to talk and figure things out, and spent most of their time running around to repair broken ship systems. The team soon found that this was too stressful. They shifted gears and started to think more in terms of discussion and investigation, and that’s when it began to make sense.
When Did Among Us Come Out on Each Platform?
Mobile was first. Among Us launched on iOS and Android on June 15, 2018. Back then it went by the name Spacemafia and only a small number of people were online at any time, sometimes just 30 or 50 players. The app has always been free to download with some ads.
PC players got access on November 16, 2018 through Steam. This version added better online multiplayer because fans kept asking for easier ways to play with friends in different places. It was a paid release.
The Nintendo Switch edition surprised everyone when it dropped on December 15, 2020. Innersloth announced it and released it the same day during a Nintendo event. It cost just five dollars.
PlayStation and Xbox versions came much later on December 14, 2021. This brought the game to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Anyone with Xbox Game Pass could jump in for free.
Among Us VR, a totally separate game, launched on November 10, 2022 for different VR headsets.
Why Did Nobody Know About Among Us Until 2020?
For almost two years after launch the game flew completely under the radar. Player numbers stayed tiny and the team even thought about giving up on it more than once. It was barely earning enough to keep the lights on.
Things started to shift thanks to streamers in South Korea and Brazil. A Brazilian creator named Godenot posted some videos in 2019 that slowly picked up hundreds of thousands of views. Korean streamers helped build a small but loyal fan base around the same time.
The real explosion came in July 2020 when big Twitch streamer Sodapoppin decided to play it on stream. His millions of followers loved it and the views took off. By the end of the month he had generated hundreds of thousands of hours of watch time just from Among Us.
September and October 2020 were pure chaos. YouTube and TikTok were flooded with billions of views. Player counts shot up to millions at the same time. The pandemic played a huge role too. People stuck at home wanted something fun and social they could play with friends, and Among Us was perfect for that. It was free on phones and easy for anyone to learn.
What Happened After the Among Us 2 Announcement?
At the peak of its popularity in August 2020 the team announced Among Us 2. The original code had been updated so many times that adding new stuff kept causing headaches. They thought starting fresh would make things easier.
But only a few weeks later on September 23 they cancelled the sequel. They worried that taking a year or longer to build it might cause players to move on. So they chose to fix and improve the first game instead and add all the new ideas there.
That ended up being a smart move. They released new maps, roles, console support, and fun crossovers with other games. These updates helped the game stay alive for years after the big boom.
Where Is Among Us Now?
Even in 2026 Among Us is still getting updates and has around 20 million players each month. That is way down from the crazy 2020 numbers but still impressive for an indie game that has been around for eight years. It has been downloaded over 720 million times and made more than 100 million dollars.
An animated series based on the game started on Paramount+ in June 2026. There is also a new single player story game called Among Us Story: On Guard coming to PC and Switch.
The game even changed how people talk with words like sus becoming part of normal conversations. Not bad for a project that almost nobody noticed at first.
Quick-Answer FAQ
When did Among Us come out?
It launched on June 15, 2018 for mobile. PC followed on November 16, 2018.
When was Among Us made?
Work started in November 2017 and took the small team about seven months.
When did Among Us get popular?
It blew up in the middle of 2020 thanks to streamers and everyone being at home during the pandemic.
Is Among Us still being updated?
Yes, Innersloth keeps adding new things even now in 2026.
