“We canceled Part Two because we saw the opportunity to give back to players a little faster than creating a new, better version,” Forrest Willard, a developer at InnerSloth, who makes it between us, told CNN Business. “It’ll be more work in the long term, but we’re excited for players to update the game, and suddenly there’s a new feature or map that unlocks new experiences.”
Between Us costs $ 5 on Steam PC game store or the standalone Itch.io store, and it’s free with ads on mobile. Players can make additional purchases to decorate and customize their in-game characters. InnerSloth declined to comment on the sales figures and total revenue.
The game requires four to 10 players, who are randomly assigned the roles of either a fellow crewmate or a charlatan. There is always more crew than scammers to start with. Throughout the game, crew members try to complete their missions and the impostors try to kill the crew and sabotage the spaceship without getting caught.
Between Us includes a lot of lies, accusations, and angry denials – a perfect recipe for engaging with social media. Played by PewDiePie, YouTube’s biggest single creator, as well as rapper and singer Soulja Boy.
All the people raise the question, what is next among us? InnerSloth developers know they must build on their success and keep players engaged. Experts say that their decision to trim a second part made sense.
“At this point, making a second part will end up dividing the audience, and it is best to keep participation high in the current game and increase revenue generation through in-game purchases,” said Cassia Curran, a consultant at Wings Interactive, a fund that invests in various games.
Innersloth developer Willard said the team plans to add features to between us including the ability to add friends, color blindness mode and a way to customize the controls.
“These just make the game easier for people to have fun over and over,” he said.