The quirky and wildly popular video game Among Us is expanding its global reach with new licensing deals, including key agreements in Latin America and Europe.
Gaming company Innersloth has appointed Tycoon Enterprises as its exclusive licensing agent in Latin America, while in Europe, the company has tagged SkyBrands to develop a portfolio of apparel and home textile products using Among Us imagery.
Among Us is a multiplayer product heavy on social gameplay in which one of the players plays the role of a killer on a space station, while the other players try to identify the murderer in their midst. The game famously saw Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortes playing for an online audience against the leader of Canada’s opposition New Democratic Party Jagmeet Singh, in which Singh killed off another player right in front of AOC.
“Canadian members of Parliament and U.S. members of Congress venting each other into space. What could go wrong?” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response to Singh’s invitation. The pair attracted 439,000 viewers on their Twitch live stream, and the game has been growing rapidly ever since. Among Us made an impressive debut when it hit half a billion unique monthly players last November, rocketing the multi-player mobile game to the top spot of the download charts and securing the title two awards—Best Multi-Player and Best Mobile Game—at the 2020 Game Awards.
Combining social gameplay with humor and lightweight horror, the game recently launched on Nintendo Switch and is set to debut on Xbox this year.
The new deal grants Tycoon wide merchandising and promotional rights as it looks to secure partners across the Latin American market.
“Fans of the game have shown us, through the engagement with the IP, that they are excited for us to take the crewmates to new worlds, and to grow our brand into other mediums beyond gaming,” said Rowan Rowden, co-founder of Dual Wield Studio
The Tycoon agreement is particularly important because, other than the United States, the Mexican and Brazilian markets have amassed the largest player bases, ranking number one and two on Facebook, followed by Colombia, Argentina, and Peru.
“This is probably one of the most anticipated and sought-after branded programs ever, and the level of interest shown by the licensee and Retail community in Among Us is incredibly high,” said Dalia Benbassat, head of corporate relations at Tycoon. “This kind of excitement comes like a breath of fresh air for the entire industry and reminds us of the important role that brands play in the path to recovery. We are delighted to be part of the Among Us Crew and look forward to the launch of our first lines of merchandise.”
In Europe, Innersloth is working with SkyBrands to develop a range of new products based on the Among Us IP. The partnership will see SkyBrands developing clothing and home textile products, like sheets and blankets, for the entire European market.
‘The demand for official quality products with Among Us is huge and in close collaboration with the team behind Among Us, SkyBrands can now develop and deliver products with apparel and home textiles,’ said SkyBrands.