Who Owns Among Us?
Among Us is owned by InnerSloth LLC, a privately held independent American game development studio co-founded by Marcus Bromander and Forest Willard. InnerSloth developed Among Us internally and released it in June 2018. The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and remains independently owned without external investors.
Parent Company
InnerSloth
Founded
2018
Status
Private
Headquarters
Redmond, Washington, USA
Who Owns Among Us?
- Parent Company: InnerSloth
- Ownership Type: Brand division
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| Among Us | InnerSloth | Brand division |
History of Among Us
- Founded: 2018
- Founders: InnerSloth (internal development)
InnerSloth released Among Us on June 15, 2018, for iOS and Android. A PC version followed in November 2018 on Itch.io and later Steam. The game drew its core mechanic from the social deduction party game genre, typified by games like Mafia and Werewolf, adapted to a digital multiplayer setting with a sci-fi crew and impostor premise.
For approximately two years, the game had a small audience. In mid-2020, Korean and Brazilian streamers on Twitch discovered the game and began broadcasting it, which drove rapid adoption. By September 2020, the game was reaching peak concurrent player counts in the tens of millions. The timing coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, during which demand for online social gaming increased significantly.
In September 2020, InnerSloth announced it was canceling a planned sequel, Among Us 2, to instead apply planned improvements to the original game. The team cited the strength of the existing player base and the practicality of updating the existing codebase rather than building a new title in parallel.
Following the viral peak, InnerSloth continued releasing content updates including new maps (The Skeld updates, Polus, The Airship, The Fungle), new crewmate roles (Guardian Angel, Scientist, Engineer, Shapeshifter), and cosmetic content. Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S ports launched in 2021.
By 2024, active player counts had declined significantly from the 2020 peak, which is typical for games that experience a viral growth spike. The game retains an active community and continues to receive updates as of 2026.
About InnerSloth
InnerSloth operates as a small independent game development studio with approximately 15 employees. The company's business model focuses on creating high-quality multiplayer games with long-term player engagement rather than pursuing rapid release cycles or multiple simultaneous projects.
The company's primary revenue comes from Among Us through cosmetic purchases, mobile ads, and platform licensing fees. InnerSloth has maintained a player-friendly approach to monetization, focusing on optional cosmetic items rather than pay-to-win mechanics.
Despite their small size, InnerSloth has achieved remarkable success with Among Us becoming one of the most played games globally. The company has used this success to expand their team gradually while maintaining their indie studio culture and development philosophy.
- Founded: 2015
- Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, USA
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Revenue: ~$50M (est., FY2024)
- Employees: ~30
Where Is Among Us Made / Based?
- Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, USA
Among Us Sustainability & Ethics
InnerSloth has not published a sustainability report or third-party environmental certification. As a small digital game studio distributing exclusively through digital channels, InnerSloth does not have the physical manufacturing footprint associated with physical products.
The game implements a chat filter and optional quick chat mode with preset phrases, which is the primary moderation tool. A full free-text chat option is available with age-appropriate restrictions. InnerSloth has not published formal community safety audit data.
Among Us's monetization is cosmetic-only; items purchased do not provide competitive advantages. The game does not use loot boxes; cosmetics are priced individually or bundled in DLC packs.
Awards & Recognition
The Game Awards 2020: Among Us won Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2020. The award specifically recognized the online multiplayer category for the year's standout experience.
BAFTA Games Awards 2021: Among Us won Best Multiplayer at the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Games Awards for 2021, which cover games released in the preceding calendar year.
Webby Awards 2021: Among Us received a Webby Award in the games category in 2021.
Google Play Best of 2020: Among Us won Best Game and Best Multiplayer Game in Google Play's annual best-of selection for 2020.
Apple App Store App of the Day: Among Us received multiple App of the Day features on the Apple App Store during its 2020 peak.
Among Us Recalls & Controversies
Server Instability at Viral Peak (2020): During the game's rapid growth in September and October 2020, Among Us servers experienced frequent crashes and connection failures due to infrastructure that was not scaled for tens of millions of concurrent users. InnerSloth publicly acknowledged the problem and worked to upgrade server capacity, but extended periods of instability affected the player experience for several weeks.
Cheating and Hacking (Ongoing): Among Us has been subject to organized cheating campaigns on PC, including the use of modified game clients to reveal impostor identities to all players or to broadcast spam messages in game chat. In November 2020, a particularly disruptive hacking campaign flooded game lobbies with unsolicited messages. InnerSloth issued patches and anti-cheat updates in response, though exploits have continued to appear periodically.
Among Us 2 Cancellation (September 2020): InnerSloth announced in September 2020 that it was canceling Among Us 2, a planned sequel that had been publicly announced only weeks earlier in August 2020. While framed as a positive decision to improve the original game, some players and observers interpreted the reversal as evidence of reactive product planning. InnerSloth stated the decision was made because the technical limitations they had hoped to resolve with a sequel were addressable within the existing game.
Age-Appropriate Content and Online Safety (Ongoing): Advocacy groups focused on children's online safety have noted that Among Us's online lobbies allow interaction between children and unknown adults, and that the chat filter does not prevent all inappropriate content. InnerSloth introduced stricter chat options for accounts registered as under 13, but independent assessments of the implementation's effectiveness are not available.
Among Us Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +InnerSloth's independent status means all creative decisions are made by the game's original developers without publisher pressure
- +Cosmetic-only monetization does not create pay-to-win dynamics
- +Free-to-play mobile model gives Among Us broad accessibility globally
- +Cross-platform and cross-play support allows friends on different devices to play together
- +Active update cadence with new content additions years after launch
Considerations
- -Cheating and hacking tools for PC have been a recurring problem that is difficult to fully suppress without platform-level enforcement tools
- -Online interactions between children and strangers are inherent to the open lobby system
- -The game's viral peak has passed; the active player base is significantly smaller than in 2020-2021
- -InnerSloth's small team size creates constraints on the speed of content updates and anti-cheat response
- -No external publisher or parent company means the studio bears all operational risk independently
Frequently Asked Questions About Among Us
Sources & Further Reading
Where to Buy
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Among Us on AmazonCompetitors to Among Us
No direct competitors found in the same category. This could be because Among Usoperates in a unique market segment or we're still building our competitor database.
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