The developer of Among Us has explained why update progress on its smash-hit game is "taking so long."
In a new blog post, Innersloth outlined the issues that the game's runaway success had led to. The update included an FAQ section, which posed the question "why is everything taking so long." As a response, Innersloth said that the game's "incredible traction" in late 2020 "meant a lot of change for us." Those changes included moving back to development of the game after its sequel was cancelled, and "2 months just restructuring, figuring out new processes, and getting external partners to help us manage on board." On top of that, Xbox and Nintendo Switch ports of the game also required the team's attention.
All of that meant "time away from the game," but Innersloth now says that "it'll make it easier for current and future us to develop the game better." Unfortunately, Innersloth also explains that speeding things up isn't as simple as hiring more people: "adding more people doesn't automatically make development go faster - it slows it down and can cause a ton of issues if we don't do it properly." The four-person team goes on to mention that some indie studios can find themselves running out of money entirely by hiring too much, too fast."
While it's taken a while for development to spin up again, the developers do have some good news. The new Among Us airship map is still coming in "early 2021," and Innersloth says it's "close" to launching persistent accounts, with a primary focus on moderation, as well as the potential for friend requests and saved stats in future. The team has also teased a 2021 roadmap in an attempt "to be more transparent about what we're launching and the expected order." There's no word on what the roadmap will include, but there should be more information "soon."
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