Among Us is taking the world by storm, but it’s just ‘Space Werewolf’ to gamers in China
- Among Us helps US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez create one of the most-watched Twitch streams in history
- Developed by InnerSloth, the PC and mobile game follows a format that is better known among Chinese gamers as Werewolf
Among Us is one of America’s latest obsessions. But in China, there is nothing especially novel about the breakout indie video game, except for its name.
As influencers and politicians discover the hot new multiplayer game for the first time, Chinese players are reacting with a collective yawn. When hundreds of thousands of viewers on Tuesday tuned into the first Twitch stream of US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez playing Among Us, the novelty appeared lost on gamers in China.
“So Among Us is actually just Werewolf,” one Weibo user wrote.
Werewolf was the gaming phenomenon that took over China about three years ago, spawning a chain of mobile games and celebrity shows. Just like Among Us, it is a variation of a party game called Mafia, which was created by a Russian psychology professor in 1986.