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Filtering through the Northern American server of Among Us<\/em>, users will stumble across a variety of oddly-titled lobbies. \u201cHornyRPOnly,\u201d or \u201cSingleGirl,\u201d even \u201cHrny Bakugo RP.\u201d Inside these lobbies are a multitude of horny gamers, searching for like minded individuals to cyber with. As a 27-year-old looking to play their favorite guilty pleasure game, but with no intention of exploring those peculiar places, I selected \u201cEggsalad,\u201d a seemingly innocent lobby. And that\u2019s where I met him: the blue astronaut who asked me to be his girlfriend the second I chose the pink skin.<\/p>\n

Gamers or not, most people have heard of Among Us<\/em>. The Mafia<\/em>-style game from Innersloth grew in popularity at the start of the pandemic, to the point where its merch fills the shelves of every toy store, and still carries a following of devoted players who use their PCs, consoles and mobile phones to make false accusations and call each other sus.<\/p>\n

What most might not suspect, however, is that Among Us<\/em> is now also a conduit for the single and lonely, and a place where underage gamers are exploring cyber sex. However, it isn\u2019t the first of its kind.<\/p>\n

Cybering has been around in multiplayer games and chat rooms for decades. It has evolved from online messaging platforms like AOL and MSN to virtual realities like IMVU<\/em> and SecondLife<\/em>. Whether the sex is described or simulated, these niches exist within most online communities and especially in gaming. <\/p>\n

Rather than pushing the beds together in MedBay, most of the sexual roleplaying in Among Us<\/em> is done in the lobbies themselves. The pre-game chat feature is the conduit for communication; whether it\u2019s flirtatious foreplay, or getting detailed and dirty. With the lack of official gating to keep children at bay, it raises concerns these could become an arena for underage players to experience online grooming and sexual harassment. <\/p>\n