NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News
Among Us developer InnerSloth has revealed why updates for the game have been taking such a long time.
The developer offered an explanation for the game’s slow update schedule in a new blogpost, where it also touched upon the game’s update timeline for 2021, upcoming features and levels. The Among Us team revealed that they did not expect the game’s sudden virality in 2020, which required them to re-shift focus back on what they thought was a complete game.
In addition, Innersloth also noted that it needed extra time to set up workflows for Among Us in such a way that it would be sustainable. “We also needed to set ourselves up more sustainably to work on the game,” it said. “We had to spend 2 months just restructuring, figuring out new processes, and getting external partners to help us manage on board.”
The team’s small size – it currently only has four employees – also made the task all the more challenging. They also acknowledged the challenges of porting the game to other platforms, such as Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles, due to the need for additional support, certifications and more.
“It’s all behind the scenes work, and while it meant time away from the game, it’ll make it easier for current and future us to develop the game better,” the dev added. “There’s a ton of other things out of our control (legal issues, meetings, planning), so sometimes these things take longer as well.”
Elsewhere in the post, Innersloth also has confirmed that the Airship map, which was first revealed during December’s The Game Awards, is planned to launch early this year and will be free. In addition, the developer is still working on adding player accounts, which it first announced in November, in ordet to make it easier for players to report hackers and cheaters.
A release window for the player accounts has not been revealed, although InnerSloth says that it is “close, but we want to make sure it isn’t half-baked before implementing”. The first account update will implement reporting features, while subsequent updates to the feature include a friend system and saved stats.
Among Us wrapped up 2020 on a high, clinching several awards at The Game Awards and was crowned NME’s fourth best game of 2020. The game was also named the most downloaded mobile game last year, with over 264million downloads globally.
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