Among us, a murder mystery set in space is the latest multi-million dollar cross in video games

(CNN)

When people around the world stay at home, theirs The latest favorite pastime 2018 Killing Mystery Game set in space called among us.

The high-speed popularity of the game was announced to its developers on Thursday, who announced that they would cancel the continuation of the game, to better focus on developing the existing version. Game Reached More than a million players It grew to more than 3.5 million users worldwide on September 3rd and Friday.

“We canceled the sequel because we saw a chance to return it to players a little faster than creating a newer, better version,” Forrest Willard, developer of Inner Sloth, told CNN Business, which creates between us. “It’s going to be a lot of work for a long time, but we ‘re excited to see players updating the game, and there’s a new feature or map that suddenly opens up new experiences.”

Based on other social exclusions among us Party game Like the Mafia, a group of innocents live their daily lives, while murderers hide their identities and commit murders at night. The panel must decide who is to blame and get rid of the cheaters before losing the majority.

Three persons, Innersloth, was released among us in 2018. Willard is a programmer and manages the company’s business. Although it became popular in countries like Korea and Brazil, it did not cause a stir at the time. This game started in the United States until this summer, for a while Twitch Streamer Fans with 2.8 million viewers started running it.

Among us it costs $ 5 on PC Games Store Steam or Indie Store Itch.o, and it’s free with ads on mobile. Players can make additional purchases to decorate and customize their game characters. Innerslot declined to comment on sales figures and gross revenue.

The game requires four to 10 players, who assign approximately the roles of an employee or cheater. There are always more teams than cheaters in the beginning. Throughout the game, crews try to complete their missions and cheaters try to kill the crew and destroy the spacecraft without being caught.

We have a lot of lies, accusations and angry denials – the perfect recipe for social media engagement. YouTube, the biggest personal creator of YouTube, has played it like rapper and singer Soulza Boy.

It’s not the only indie game starting between us this year. Fall guys A light-hearted Battle Royale Players try to become the best of the 60 players through jelly beans, maze, jumping challenges and other activities. The Steam store sold more than 7 million copies in the first month of August.

Fame begs the question, what’s next for us? Innerslot developers know how to build their success and keep players engaged. Experts say their decision to reduce a continuum makes sense.

“Creating a sequel at this point will divide audiences, and it’s good to have more engagement in the current game and direct more monetization through game purchases,” said Wings Interactive consultant Cassia Curran, who invests financially in different sports.

InnerSlot developer Willard said the team plans to add features to us, including the ability to add friends, color blinds and a way to customize controls.

“These make the game easier for people to enjoy time and time again,” he said.