Among Us / Sus

2020

Date: September 2020 · Place: Twitch, TikTok, Discord · Figures: Innersloth, three-person developer studio · xQc, popularizing streamer · Sodapoppin, popularizing streamer · Tags: Game, Vocabulary, Sus 01. Two-Year-Old Game, Sudden Hit Among Us launches in 2018 by three-person Texas studio Innersloth. It is essentially ignored for two years. In summer 2020 streamers including xQc, Sodapoppin, and Pokimane begin playing it on stream. By September 2020 Among Us has 60 million monthly active users. The game's premise, identifying an imposter among a crew, generates the term 'sus' as universal shorthand for suspicious. The phrase enters mainstream Gen Z and Gen Alpha vocabulary within a month. 02. Sussy Baka and the Crewmate By 2021 the Among Us crewmate silhouette is one of the most-meme'd images of the year. Belle Delphine's May 2021 'Sussy Baka' video extends the lexicon. The phrase 'when the imposter is sus' loops through TikTok formats for two full years. Among Us is the lockdown-era game whose vocabulary outlasts its player base. Sources • The New York Times, 'Among Us, a Game Trending With Twitch Streamers' (5 October 2020) • Innersloth, Among Us 2020 player statistics • Know Your Meme, 'Sus / Among Us' entry