Innersloth

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**Innersloth** is a Redmond, Washington-based video game-development studio, most notable for creating the games *Among Us* and *The Henry Stickmin Collection*. They create games for Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices.

The developer team persevered when their product did not find success immediately after game release, and waited and adapted their strategy. Innersloth faced growing challenges after rapid success and increased popularity in 2020, two years after its release.

## Background

### Foundation

Innersloth is structured as a limited liability company. Its staff consists of five programmers, two artists, and a community director. They are based out of Redmond, Washington. The Innersloth team has maintained their focus as an indie game developer. The developers rarely meet in person, preferring remote work. Innersloth was formed by video game developer Marcus Bromander, who goes by the username PuffballsUnited on the gaming website Newgrounds; with his colleague and co-founder Forest Willard. All three members of the Innersloth team first met in college at Oregon State University (OSU), and began video game development together after graduation.

Bromander and Willard discovered their video game development skills could help each other, with Bromander's skill game design and artwork complementing Willard's computer programming background. After Willard left his job at Microsoft, they decided to form a joint venture together. Bromander and Willard founded Innersloth as a privately held company in 2015.

### Development Team

Bromander serves as an artist, animator, and game designer for Innersloth. Willard serves as a computer programmer and head of business management for Innersloth. Amy Liu is artist, designer, and animator for Innersloth. Liu was hired as artist for Innersloth shortly after its co-founding by Bromander and Willard. In their early development process, the Innersloth team traveled to a video game convention PAX and were inspired by viewing the game *Nuclear Throne*. During early game design, the Innersloth team engages in creating prototypes with rough images, detailing the art design at a later stage once they worked out the basic game mechanics. In an interview with *Kotaku*, Bromander explained the strengths and weaknesses behind the developers at Innersloth. Bromander lamented that they were not skilled at promoting their products, telling *Kotaku*, "We're really bad at marketing." Bromander updates fans on Innersloth developments on his Twitter @PuffBallsUnited, and his YouTube channel where he had 80,000 subscribers in September 2020.

### Growth and Response

"Kotaku" analyzed the efficiency of the development team at Innersloth, concluding the company succeeded at persevering to improve their product even after an initial stage of failure to achieve popularity in the beginning. Innersloth developers focused on the player experience, over and above microtransactions. The Innersloth developers appreciated the Internet memes based on their work and were driven to create an enjoyable user experience for the players. Willard explained the business model behind Innersloth, "We're a slow-growing company. We snowball our way to the top instead of spike and tail like most Steam releases do."  Liu stated she started to follow video game streamers to get more artistic development ideas at Innersloth. By October 2017, all three members of the Innersloth team had begun to devote their efforts full-time to the company. Innersloth faced challenges from rapid success during 2020. After an increase in popularity in 2020, Willard stated Innersloth planned to increase server performance for August 2021. Innersloth experienced problems with hackers attacking their servers in 2020. Innersloth responded by adapting their systems and servers.

Innersloth implemented modifications to allow for moderation in-game and reporting of problems to the development team.

## Game Release History

Innersloth released its game *Dig2China* in 2015. It was made available on Google Play and the Apple App Store. In the game, players are able to dig to Asia using an excavator. They can then upgrade their excavator and dig through thirteen layers of the Earth. In-between *Dig2China* and their next venture, Innersloth experienced multiple failed projects prior to achieving success with their video game development. Some of these failed projects were multiplayer games, which gave the Innersloth team some hesitation with venturing into this medium for their next game. This was followed up by *Among Us*, first released on June 15, 2018. This game was not successful upon initial release in 2018 and failed to become popular after its launch. However, it gained popularity for Innersloth in 2020, after increased usage by Twitch streamers and YouTubers including Sodapoppin, xQc, Shroud, Ninja, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye and PewDiePie.

A report by *Sensor Tower* noted, "Innersloth's [game] was a breakaway hit, reaching No. 1 among the top downloaded games of 3Q20." Associated Press confirmed this, reporting it was number one on their list of top iPhone and iPad apps. By October 2020, the game had been downloaded over 100 million times. Innersloth was not prepared for the level of interest they received from this game, and they altered their video game development plans accordingly. They originally had planned a release of an *Among Us* sequel titled *Among Us 2*, with new features including playability across multiple devices and increased capacity for the surge in the number of players using their systems. Innersloth canceled their efforts at this initiative in order to focus on maintaining and improving the original game in the face of sudden rising popularity. Innersloth released their game *The Henry Stickmin Collection* on August 7, 2020, and the game was made available via macOS and PC versions.

*The Henry Stickmin Collection* is a remaster of some of Bromander's previous flash games, along with a 6th and final installment, and involves control of a protagonist character assigned special missions including infiltrating an airship, stealing diamonds, escaping from prison, and committing bank robberies. *GameCrate* called it the "indie game of the month"; and it was reviewed favorably by *PC Gamer*, and YouTuber Markiplier.

*Among Us* was not always named "Among Us". The game was originally named "Space Mafia." Users have discovered this after going into the game's files on Android, and seeing the game was internally named "SpaceMafia" rather than "Among Us".

## Merchandise Store

*Main article: Innersloth Merchandise Store*
## Trivia

* Innersloth is written as "InnerSloth" on the Apple App Store.

## Gallery

Forest Willard, Marcus Bromander, Amy Liu, and Victoria Tran (on the phone) at The Game Awards 2020 after winning Best Multiplayer Game for *Among Us*.*Among Us* representations of the Innersloth team.2022 April Fools version of Innersloth's logo
## External links

* Innersloth website
* Innersloth Discord server (article)
* Innersloth Merchandise Store (article)
* Innersloth YouTube channel
* Innersloth Bilibili channel
* Innersloth Facebook page
* Innersloth Twitter account
* Innersloth Instagram account
* Innersloth Twitch channel
* Innersloth email
* Innersloth Apple App Store page
* Innersloth Google Play page
* Innersloth itch.io page
* Innersloth Steam page

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Of course there are already Among Us cheaters". *Site*. October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Innersloth has responded to Among Us hackers ruining matches". *Site*. October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "Among Us' Improbable Rise To The Top Of Twitch". *Site*. September 9, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "What Among Us' New Content Updates Will Be". *Site*. October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "How Among Us Came Back From the Brink of Obscurity". *Site*. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Among Us Devs Have Created a Gaming Phenomenon, Albeit Two Years After It Launched". *Site*. September 22, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
7. ↑ "Among Us hit 3 million concurrent players over the weekend, says Innersloth". *Site*. September 28, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
8. ↑ "Among Us is so popular that its developers just canceled the sequel". *Site*. September 23, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
9. ↑ "Among Us 2 canceled — but don't worry". *Site*. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
10. ↑ "What Is Among Us, and Is it Coming to PS4?". *Site*. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Among Us 2 Canceled To Focus On Current Game's Popularity Explosion". *Site*. September 23, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "'Among Us 2' Scrapped To Bolster 'Among Us 1' With New Content". *Site*. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
13. ↑ "Over 100 million people have downloaded Among Us". *Site*. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
14. ↑ "Among Us 6 digit code error – How to fix". *Site*. September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
15. ↑ "Corporations and Charities System". *Site*. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
16. ↑ "Everything Among Us Desperately Needs To Add". *Site*. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
17. ↑ "Among Us: 10 Great Features We Hope The Game Adds Soon". *Site*. October 3, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
18. ↑ "Hackers have taken over 'Among Us' and it's ruining the experience for everyone". *Site*. October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
19. ↑ "Among Us hits 100 million downloads, 3.8 million concurrent players". *Site*. September 28, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
20. ↑ "Among Us 2 announced: release date, sequel features, price, more". *Site*. August 19, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
21. ↑ "Among Us sigue rompiendo records de descarga y jugadores simultáneos". *Site*. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
22. ↑ "What is 'Among Us' and why is everybody playing it?". *Site*. September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Among Us developers promise to fix the most boring part of the game". *Site*. October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Everything we know about the major changes coming to Among Us". *Site*. September 25, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
25. ↑ "Among Us Hits Impressive Concurrent Player Milestone". *Site*. September 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "'Among Us' Game Guide: Different Types of Hackers Players Should Avoid". *Site*. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 "Episode 36 - Making a Game With Innersloth". *Site*. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 "Among Us 2 (IS DEAD) Q&A with Innersloth Developers". *Site*. September 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
29. ↑ "About: Innersloth". *Site*. January 24, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 "Among Us, a murder mystery set in space, is latest million-dollar video game craze". *Site*. September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
31. ↑ "Among Us: Its Rise in Popularity and How to Win the Game". *Site*. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
32. ↑ "Early Among Us character concepts depict the birth of the bean". *Site*. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
33. ↑ "Among Us Concept Art Shows How Fast Crewmate Design Came Together". *Site*. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 "Forest, Marcus y Amy: ¿quiénes crearon Among Us?". *Site*. September 18, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
35. ↑ "Among Us: Why More Developers Should Go for Quality Over Quantity". *Site*. September 27, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
36. ↑ "Among Us Console Port is Probably a Long Way Off". *Site*. September 25, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
37. ↑ "Among Us 2's Cancellation Proves Sequels Aren't Always Necessary". *Site*. September 28, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
38. ↑ "Among Us developers scrambling to handle hackers and cheaters". *Site*. October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
39. ↑ "Among Us Hackers Are Ruining the Game (Because Of Course They Are)". *Site*. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
40. ↑ "Among Us Has A Cheating Problem". *Site*. October 3, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 "Innersloth moves to fight Among Us cheating". *Site*. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "Among Us Not Getting a Sequel is Great News - Here's Why". *Site*. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
43. ↑ "Dig2China". *Site, Newgrounds, Inc.*. Retrieved .
44. ↑ "How to be the best Impostor in Among Us". *Site*. September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
45. ↑ "Summer '20 Top Hits". *Site*. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
46. ↑ "Among Us: the ultimate party game of the paranoid Covid era". *Site*. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
47. ↑ "TrainwrecksTV Wins Code Red Among Us Championship". *Site*. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
48. ↑ "Why is the new Impostor Game, Among Us, so popular? 5 Uncommon things you need to know". *Site*. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
49. ↑ "How Among Us became so wildly popular". *Site*. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
50. ↑ "Among Us 2 canceled as devs focus on original title". *Site*. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
51. ↑ "Among Us Is Even More Popular Than You Think Right Now - Downloads on Steam and mobile are soaring for the 2-year-old indie game". *Site*. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
52. ↑ "All you need to know about the 'most popular' game in the world right now". *Site*. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
53. ↑ "The top iPhone and iPad apps on App Store". *Site*. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
54. ↑ "How an obscure 2018 computer game became a global phenomenon overnight". *Site*. October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
55. ↑ "Among Us, a murder mystery set in space, is the latest multimillion dollar craze in video games.". *Site*. October 3, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
56. ↑ "Among Us Hit Massive 3 Million Concurrent Player Count This Weekend". *Site*. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
57. ↑ "God of War Art Director Creates a Horrifying Among Us Impostor". *Site*. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
58. ↑ "Has 'Among Us 2' been canceled? Everything to know". *Site*. September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
59. ↑ "Among Us 2 Announced Following First Game's Huge Surge In Popularity". *Site*. August 19, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
60. ↑ "Among Us 2 confirmed for PC and mobile; first details". *Site*. September 4, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
61. ↑ "'Among Us': what to know about the online survival game that's all about deceit". *Site*. September 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
62. ↑ "Put your support behind this awesome LEGO Among Us idea". *Site*. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
63. ↑ "Innersloth cancels Among Us 2 because the first game has become so popular". *Site*. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
64. ↑ "Among Us Music Video Goes Viral After Game Dominates Sales & Streaming". *Site*. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
65. ↑ "The Henry Stickmin Collection: Every Plushies Location (& What They're For)". *Site*. August 21, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
66. ↑ "Indie Games of the Month - Three Classic Flash-Based Games get the Remaster Treatment". *Site*. September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
67. ↑ "Five new Steam games you probably missed". *Site*. August 10, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
68. ↑ "MISSION UN-POSSIBLE (i missed this...) -- Completing the Mission". *Site*. August 8, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
69. ↑ "Henry Stickmin: Completing the Mission (THE END)". *Site*. August 14, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.