Among Us devs are sus on Fortnite's Impostor mode
The Impostor mode in Fortnite bears a whole lot of similarities to Among Us.
Fortnite’s newest mode, Impostors, has been clearly inspired by Among Us, a simple yet addictive social deduction game that skyrocketed in popularity in 2020. However, the developers over at Innersloth have expressed their sadness over a billion dollar company seeing something popular and adapting it for its own game.
For those just catching up, Fortnite has introduced a new mode called Impostors. In this mode, eight Agents must complete assignments to maintain the integrity of The Bridge. Meanwhile, two Impostors are out there trying to sabotage their efforts. While the format is based on the party game Werewolf (or Mafia), the parallels between Fortnite’s Impostor mode and Among Us are apparent.
Both Adriel Wallick and Victoria Tran took to Twitter to voice their disappointment over Epic Games’ apparent consumption and regurgitation of pop culture.
Anyway - just feeling pretty bummed today.
— Adriel Wallick (@MsMinotaur) August 17, 2021
Everything in the world was already feeling insurmountable, so this was just another fun reminder of how tiny we all really are.
“It would've been really, really cool to collab haha. Just sad indie hours [right now],” Tran wrote before expanding on the idea that the Werewolf-like game mechanics aren’t exclusive to Among Us. “Like game mechanics fine, those shouldn't be gatekept, but at the very least even different themes or terminology makes things more interesting?”
Tran also wrote how this feels like a solid example of the problems women and people of color face in the technology industry, “I think it's just hitting me particularly hard today cause of all the bf dungeon stuff, plus this, and it hits so weirdly personal because it feels exactly like being a woman/POC in tech. It feels like a powerless ‘lol what's the point anymore’ of making our own stories/content.”
It’s worth remembering the history of Fortnite at this point. The game started out as a purely PVE-focused game where players built bases to defend against zombies. As PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds skyrocketed in popularity, Epic pivoted and released Fortnite: Battle Royale, the battle royale version of the game. Mention Fortnite to anyone these days and they’ll first think of the battle royale component, some may not even be aware of the Save the World PVE side.
This isn’t the first time Fortnite has introduced an Among Us-themed mode. Back in December of 2020, The Spy Within had a Spies versus Agents mode, with the Spies trying to eliminate the Agents before they could complete objectives. But the Impostors mode edges even closer to being more like Among Us.
Fortnite has always been a game where pop culture is used to great effect. From making emotes out of famous dance moves, unveiling a pirate-themed season after Sea of Thieves released to introducing Reboot Vans after Apex Legends’ success, the game isn’t shy about its inspirations. It seems that Among Us is the next game to provide inspiration to the cultural phenomenon that is Fortnite.
