The Airship map will take Among Us where it has never gone before
InnerSloth will add all new tasks, map mechanics, and more.
Imposters and Crewmates will soon take to the skies as part of the first new map in Among Us since the murder mystery social deduction game became a runaway success in late 2020. It’s called “The Airship.”
Developer InnerSloth revealed some of the new stage's unique mechanics and cosmetics during The Game Awards in December 2020 and another update in January 2021, but with a mid-March 2021 blog post, the curtain has fully been lifted.
Among Us has already been ported to Nintendo Switch and is even poised for an Xbox One and Xbox Series X launch later this year. And this new map will be a major part of all that.
Here’s everything we know about the Airship.
When is the Among Us Airship map release date?
The Airship is coming to Among Us.
In a March 18, 2021 blog post and tweet, developer InnerSloth confirmed that the Airship map would be released on March 31, 2021.
Previously, InnerSloth had been communicating "early 2021" as a release timeframe, which sort of makes the very end of March the last possible point in time to do so. (Does April count as mid-2021?) While Among Us players have had to wait for a long time for any significant update, Innersloth explained why progress has been slow in a January 19 blog post and then reiterated points about how the game’s surging popularity and small development team made it difficult.
“Creating a map and updates isn’t as simple as creating one aspect of the game and throwing it onto the PC,” the March 2021 blog post reads. “Because our game is cross-platform, it means EVERYTHING needs to work on as many devices as possible. (Every kind of smartphone and its various versions, console, etc.)” Coupled with that is the fact that each platform has to approve all updates, and the surge in popularity made a robust accounts system necessary.
Porting the game to other systems and getting updates certified on those platforms also takes a lot more time and work with Innersloth's partners. "It’s all behind the scenes work, and while it meant time away from the game, it’ll make it easier for current and future us to develop the game better," Innersloth promises.
Is there an Among Us Airship map trailer?
Yes, there is! A trailer featuring the map was shown off during The Game Awards 2020. It showcases many of the new map areas, its new tasks, and new features like choosing which room you want to start in. Watch the full trailer below:
What are the Among Us Airship map's new features and layout?
The new location will be the fourth playable stage in the indie title, joining the Skeld, Polus, and Mira HQ. Each map has unique characteristics and tasks, but the Airship will be a major leap compared to Among Us' previous map options. These were all reaffirmed in the January 2021 blog post.
The aforementioned ability to choose where you want to start instead of everyone starting together should change some tried and true Among Us strategies. There will also be a new set of tasks that Crewmates need to get familiar with if they don't want to get stabbed in the back while they're fumbling to complete their chores.
These will include polishing a giant gemstone, wiggling a bag of trash out of a bin, and a handful more. The map is also littered with ladders and shortcuts, like floating platforms that slowly transport players across the map. It will definitely be the most dynamic map in the game.
There will also be several new kill animations and cosmetics to match the Airship's theme. Unlike previous maps, the Airship is themed after a Henry Stickmin, a series of interactive animated shorts created by InnerSloth dev Marcus Bromande, which should be a nostalgic hat tip to anyone who played through the series on animation sharing site Newgrounds.
'Among Us' takes to the skies.
What Among Us 2021 updates have been announced?
The most notable update coming with the Airship is a new accounts system to foster “safe and welcoming experience.”
“It MIGHT’VE been possible to launch the Airship before accounts, but we didn’t want to do that,” InnerSloth wrote. “It would be wrong to launch the new map, get all hyped, and pretend like there were no issues with toxicity. So these two things needed to launch together.”
Other features like a friend system and saved stats are in the pipeline, but the secure accounts system is the short-term priority. Further down the line, we may be looking at more cosmetics and maps, but for now, the Airship is the big thing on the horizon.
An earlier version of this article was written by Danny Paez.
This article was originally published on
