InnerSloth

InnerSloth is a video game developer headquartered in the United States of America. The studio is best known for creating Among Us, a multiplayer social deduction game that gained widespread attention. Among Us allows players to work together to complete tasks while trying to identify impostors among them. The game’s simple mechanics and cross‑platform availability contributed to its rapid rise in popularity.

In October 2020, Among Us was subjected to sustained malicious attacks that disrupted gameplay. Automated bots flooded servers with spam promoting a YouTube channel and a Discord server under the name “Eris Loris.” The spam included advertisements and political messages, making matches unplayable for many users. The attacks coincided with a period of explosive growth for the title, straining the game’s existing infrastructure.

InnerSloth described its development team as small, which limited its ability to respond quickly to large‑scale threats. The studio deployed server updates aimed at identifying and removing the malicious bots while acknowledging that legitimate players might also be affected by the countermeasures. In light of the ongoing instability, InnerSloth canceled plans for a sequel to concentrate on stabilizing the original game’s outdated infrastructure. This decision reflected a prioritization of fixing existing problems over pursuing new projects.

The October 2020 incident highlighted broader scalability and security challenges faced by InnerSloth as Among Us’s user base expanded. Frequent server outages and reports of cheating were noted alongside the targeted bot attacks, underscoring the need for more robust backend systems. The studio’s focus on infrastructure improvements aimed to reduce vulnerability to similar disruptions in the future.