As one of the most popular multiplayer games right now, Among Us amassed nearly 400,000 concurrent Steam players last week, surpassing the veteran PUBG franchise. Among Us initially released back in 2018, but the game has seen a massive surge in its player base in recent weeks, initiating a deluge of memes and Twitch streamers generating content for the multiplayer teamwork and betrayal game.

Among Us was generally languishing in obscurity for the past couple of years, going unnoticed by many and frustrating developers at InnerSloth with its concurrent player count mostly locked in the double-digits. The 3-person team at InnerSloth chalked up their low numbers to bad marketing, but continued to push through their lack of success by consistently generating and releasing updates to the game. In 2019, they released two additional maps, Mira HQ and Polus, and made regular tweaks to increase the game's playability. Now, after the summer of 2020 and the months-long pandemic forcing gamers to stay indoors even more than usual, Among Us has become a staple in COVID-era gaming and a must-play for streamers on Twitch and YouTube.

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Among Us reached over 388,000 concurrent players on Steam, putting it squarely in 3rd on Steam rankings. For context, this placed Among Us right behind CS:GO and Dota 2 for a time - both of which have had considerably stocked player bases and competitive communities for years - and right in front of PUBG, a game that stood at #1 in concurrent players for a full year. This may not necessarily be huge news given how popular games tend to get a lot of people playing them, but for a game like Among Us, this is a yet another monumental milestone.

SteamCharts Among Us vs PUBG Concurrent Players

Among Us comes from a tiny team of only 3 developers, with just a single one of them working on the game for the majority of its development cycle. Compared to the development teams like those for PUBGAmong Us has, even for a brief moment, stepped on something of a gaming Goliath. PUBG, at its peak, had daily player counts in the millions. However, a lack of consistent updates and surging competition has focused PUBG's market on mobile and its core game (which is also on PS4 and Xbox One with crossplay) continues to decline in popularity. It should be stated that the nearly 400,000 currently playing Among Us are on Steam alone. These numbers don't take into account the untold player counts who have been playing Among Us on iOS or Android, platforms on which the game is totally free and where players can play with their PC counterparts. PUBG Mobile on the other hand, is a wholly different game than core PUBG on PC.

It seems as though perseverance for an indie-game developer like InnerSloth has ultimately paid off. Among Us has been likened to Fall Guys, another massive summer hit, as a genuinely fun and refreshing game that gives many of us stuck at home something to experience with friends and laugh about. It remains to be seen how much more Among Us will grow in popularity, but at this rate, it seems as though it's just getting started.

Next: How to Change Your Name in Among Us (The Easy Way)

Source: SteamCharts