While the game was initially released in 2018 to little mainstream attention, it received a massive rise in popularity in 2020 due to many Twitch streamers and YouTubers playing it during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[e][8][12] At the start of the game, Crewmates are assigned "tasks" to complete around the map in the form of minigames, minipuzzles, and simple toggles, mostly consisting of maintenance work on vital systems such as fixing wires and downloading data.

[29] The team nearly abandoned the project multiple times but continued work on it due to a "small but vocal player base",[32] adding in online multiplayer, new tasks, and customization options.

[i][38] During this time, Forest Willard and Amy Liu continued to update Among Us, increasing the maximum player base, adding four servers and three regions, and implementing longer multiplayer codes to support more concurrent games.

[40][41][42] The team subsequently announced their plans to fix the game's server issues and widespread cheating problem,[43] as well as add a system for banning disruptive players.

[45] In mid-February 2021, the game added a feature called Quickchat, which replaces the standard chat interface with a series of preset phrases that players must pick from.

[53] On November 9, 2021, a major update was released that introduced four new roles (Shapeshifter, Engineer, Scientist, and Guardian Angel), achievements, a level system, controller support, custom keybinds, visor cosmetics, cosmetic bundles called "Cosmicubes", various in-game currencies, and a major revamp to the in-game store, which also reveals the names of the costumes.

[59] Amid its popularity, Innersloth considered releasing the game to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, but encountered a problem in implementing player communication, since standard text-based or voice-based chat seemed unusable.

Unique to the PlayStation ports are special customization options based on Ratchet and Clank from Insomniac Games' eponymous series under license from Sony Interactive Entertainment.

She also lamented the lack of "mechanic to punish players who rage-quit when they don't get to play as impostor, or are caught dead to rights in the middle of a murder".

Osange of Bonus Stage called the presence of ads and in-app purchases of cosmetic changes that are mostly available for free on the PC version "nonsense".

[87] He also stated that the communication system is "frustrating", as using the joystick to select letters is "slow", and said the fact that the game has support for multiplayer across multiple platforms gives Switch players "immediate disadvantage".

[87] PJ O'Reilly of Nintendo Life noted that the Switch lacked much of the additional content available on other platforms, such as skins, which he called a "shame".

[29] Many other Twitch streamers and YouTubers followed suit, including prominent content creators xQc, Pokimane, Shroud, Ninja, MrBeast, Disguised Toast and PewDiePie.

[29][116][117] Emma Kent of Eurogamer believed that the release of Innersloth's The Henry Stickmin Collection also contributed to awareness of Among Us,[41] and PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon credited Twitch streamer SR_Kaif for "prim[ing] Among Us for its big moment."

He said other video game adaptations of Mafia such as Town of Salem and Werewolves Within were "just add[ing] an online interface for the basic Werewolf rules," whereas Among Us is as an entirely new take on the concept.

[26] Along with Fall Guys and the Jackbox Party Packs, Among Us provided a narrative-less experience that helped to avoid the "cultural trauma" of the pandemic, according to M.J. Lewis of Wired.

[23] The game's popularity inspired many original songs, fan art and internet memes,[14][17][32] Willard expressed that fan-created content "really is the best part" of making Among Us, and Bromander called it "my favorite thing to see".

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar streamed the game alongside several other prominent streamers such as Pokimane and Hasan Piker as a way to encourage people to vote in the 2020 United States presidential election, drawing almost 700,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch.

The nugget was listed because the seller felt it resembled a Crewmate, and was inspired by a 2017 auction for a Cheeto that looked similar to the gorilla Harambe, which sold for US$99,900.

[145][146] Several TikTokers and QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theorists promoted misinformation and rumors claiming that the high price of the listing was a front for child sex trafficking.

The Discord server has been found to contain large amounts of offensive content, such as racist language, gore, pornography, and images depicting animal abuse.

[150] A Eurogamer report from October 23, 2020, features an interview with a person claiming to be Eris Loris, conducted via the Discord server from one of the links provided in the hacked games.

In the interview, Loris claims he created the bot responsible for the hacks "in only six hours", and had enlisted up to 50 volunteers to form a botnet which boosted the strength of their attacks.

He added that the hacks were part of a publicity stunt to influence players to vote for Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election.

[174] In the manga series Komi Can't Communicate, one chapter is dedicated to the game, and sees the characters dressed up as Crewmates.

[183] On June 27, 2023, it was confirmed that an animated series based on Among Us is being worked on by CBS Studios, from Infinity Train creator Owen Dennis.

[184] On March 15, 2024, it was announced that American actors Randall Park, Yvette Nicole Brown, Elijah Wood, and Ashley Johnson would provide voice roles for the series as Red, Orange, Green, and Purple respectively.

[185] On March 27, 2024, it was announced that Dan Stevens, Liv Hewson and Kimiko Glenn would join the cast as Blue, Black, and Cyan.

[186] On April 4, 2024, it was announced that Debra Wilson, Patton Oswalt, Phil LaMarr and Wayne Knight would join the cast, playing Yellow, White, Brown, and Lime.