During its free giveaway period on the Epic Games Store, users claimed Among Us more than 15 million times, developer InnerSloth has revealed. The Epic Games Store kicked off its Mega Sale near the end of May by offering a free game a week for four weeks straight. NBA 2K21 served as the first freebie, followed by the Among Us giveaway, the latter of which lasted from May 27 to June 3. Frostpunk and Remedy's Control closed out the Mega Sale free offerings.
In the past, Epic Games Store giveaways have proven a boon to games both big and small, adding significant player numbers to a wide variety of titles. Football Manager 2020, for instance, experienced an increase of one million users after appearing as an Epic Games Store freebie for only three days in 2020. And the trial between Apple and Epic revealed that some developers and publishers receive a pretty penny for hosting their games in such a manner. According to court documents, Epic paid Unknown Worlds $1.4 million for Subnautica's EGS giveaway; meanwhile, Devolver Digital received $300,000 for Stories Untold.
Among Us spent May 27 through June 3 as a free title for the Epic Games Store's Mega Sale. This relatively brief stint as a free-to-own game evidently worked wonders for the social deduction experience, evidenced by news from developer InnerSloth. A recent social media post from the team noted that Among Us secured a staggering 15-plus million downloads from Epic Games Store users during its time in the giveaway. See InnerSloth's celebratory post in the tweet linked below:
These numbers clearly increased Among Us' player count drastically, meaning the hit multiplayer experience has garnered an even wider reach on PC. Undoubtedly, Among Us' popularity will continue to spread once it migrates to PlayStation and Xbox consoles sometime in 2021.
The wildly successful title from InnerSloth isn't only making waves this week for its impressive Epic Games Store showing. Mediatonic recently announced a second Among Us crossover for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, which goes live on Friday, July 2. When the new Among Us-themed content arrives, Fall Guys players will have a chance to grab a purple impostor skin, complete with a cracked spacesuit visor and gnarly teeth.
Among Us is available on Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, and mobile platforms.
Source: InnerSloth/Twitter