FANDOM FEATURE
Innersloth aims to build the Among Us merch program around quality, fan-centric goods rather than revenue alone. by James Zahn, senior editor
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ometimes, the biggest hits seemingly come from out of nowhere, such as an indie game that peaks late and arrives in the mainstream absolutely devoid of any warning. Three years ago, Innersloth quietly launched its second game for iOS and Android devices. Following the release of Dig2China in 2015, the tiny Washington-based studio had been working on a number of unreleased titles until deciding to unleash Among Us amid the usual monthly onslaught of independent video games in June 2018. According to Innersloth, at its core, Among Us “is a party game of teamwork and betrayal in which Crewmates work together to complete tasks before one or more Impostors can kill everyone” aboard a spacecraft. But to a growing fandom, Among Us is much more.
ed game of 2020 with more than 264 million downloads worldwide — that’s nearly 40 million more than the No. 2 game, Subway Surfers, and more than 100 million more than Roblox. The sudden interest in the game created an instantaneous hunger for ancillary merchandise that caught the developers off guard. By fall, Innersloth enlisted Dual Wield Studio to serve as the exclusive licensor for the Among Us brand, as the complexities of building a licensing program began to run concurrently alongside a growing number of fan creations and unlicensed merch.
EMPOWERING CREWMATES VS. THE IMPOSTORS
A SURPRISE HIT What began as a part-time gig became a full-time job for the seven-person Innersloth team as Among Us hit PC by the end of 2018. The game did solid business in its first two years, but what no one could’ve predicted is that last year, in the middle of a global pandemic, Among Us would be thrust in front of millions of people as Twitch streamers and TikTokers introduced the colorful crew to a captive audience. Eager to play along at home, millions of soon-to-be fans downloaded the game and entered the fight to see who among the Crewmates was an Impostor by looking for clues as to who may or may not be “sus” (suspect). According to Apptopia, Among Us snagged the top spot as the most-download-
that could be used to ensure continuity between the bright, colorful game and any products it may inspire. Rowden says that the developers had to focus on cross-medium consistency. “Matching colors and ensuring that we have a cohesive lineup that focuses on the most popular colors as well as designs that complement their base colors is an important factor,” Rowden says. “Updating the art so it’s cohesive across the game and then reflected in the merchandise took time as assets had to be hand-drawn and changed. Finalizing the colors for the game, and then finalizing merchandise based on pantones, CMYK, etc., takes time because it’s very rarely a 1:1 mix, especially when considering products and how those colors will display on different items.”
Among Us Crewmate Stampers Source: Toikido/PMI Ltd.
“Indie game development operates much differently than massive intellectual property (IP). Many games are created by groups of friends, not huge teams that have the next 10 years in mind for their franchise,” says Rowan K. Rowden, co-founder of Dual Wield Studio. “A significant amount of time has been spent developing what Among Us is, in actuality, and what the team feels strongly about when it comes to the perception of their brand, their IP, and their characters.” One of the biggest challenges came in putting together proper style guides
In January, UK-based Toikido was named global master toy partner for Among Us. Under the agreement, Toikido was granted rights to develop and market collectibles, figures, plush, playsets, R/C, and more. By March, PMI Ltd. and YuMe came on board to distribute Toikido’s product line, which expanded to include capsules, costumes, stampers, and additional items. “In a little over six months we have gone from contract to shelf, something we should all be proud of given the external factors of COVID-19, Chinese New Year, and shipping challenges,” says Toikido Founder and CEO Darran Garnham, whose small crew has been aided by the teams at Innersloth and Dual Wield Studio in translating the 2D world of the video game into 3D toys.
20 | Issue No. 10 | THE POP INSIDER
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