In what year did Among Us surge in popularity?

Among Us surged in popularity in 2020, roughly two years after its original release.

InnerSloth released Among Us on mobile devices in 2018 and on Steam in November of that year, but the game initially attracted limited mainstream attention. Its breakthrough came in mid-2020, when Twitch streamers and YouTubers began broadcasting multiplayer sessions to large audiences.

The timing also mattered. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were looking for ways to socialize while physically separated. Among Us provided a simple, free-to-play group experience built around conversation, suspicion, deception, and voting. Content creators in South Korea and Brazil helped drive its early resurgence, followed by prominent streamers worldwide.

The growth was dramatic: the game passed 100 million downloads in September 2020 and reached millions of concurrent players. Its success made Among Us one of the defining multiplayer games of the pandemic era.