I clearly remember the days in the early 90s when the US congress began having congressional hearings on violence in video games. What a long way we’ve come.
One of the most popular, widely-known, and youngest US Representatives, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY, also known as AOC), took to Twitch last night to stream the online multiplayer video game Among Us, as well as raise awareness for voting in the upcoming election.
Anyone want to play Among Us with me on Twitch to get out the vote? (I’ve never played but it looks like a lot of fun)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 19, 2020
The live stream ran for over three hours, and included Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and streamers Pokimane and HasanAbi, and more. It was AOC’s first twitch stream and very quickly became one of the biggest streams ever broadcast on the platform, peaking at over 435,000 viewers. The archived video of the stream currently rests at 4.9 million views. After the single broadcast, her twitch channel has reached over 600,000 followers.
Among Us is a social deduction game that released back in 2018, but has become incredibly popular in recent weeks. It’s similar to the social game Werewolf where players are assigned as either crewmates or imposters. The crewmates must avoid being killed and vote on who the killers are, while the imposters try to keep their murder sprees a secret.
Every time someone finds a body, everyone votes on who to kick out. Despite being two years old, Among Us has become a very popular game for streamers thanks to its cheap price ($5!), easy gameplay, and fun social bluffing.
