Social deduction game Among Us leapfrogged to the top of the indie food chain over the summer, and while the basic game lets you choose your astronaut's suit color, the latest sensation is custom skins.
Among Us puts players in the colorful suits of bean-shaped astronauts who need to weed out the murderer(s) lurking among them.
Players can already pick their color and username, and even equip a number of free hats and outfits. But a handful of crafty Among Us fans have figured out a way to import customized skins to the game to expand its default wardrobe to an infinite array of items. Here's how.
Among Us was released by three-person studio InnerSloth in 2018, but it surged in popularity in mid-2020 after popular Twitch streamers became hooked on the murder-mystery title. The game assigns players the role of either a "Crewmate" who needs to complete tasks while avoiding being killed or the "Imposter" whose goal it is to kill the crew.
Character skins can't do much to help players win a round of Among Us, but they're a fun way to show off your own personal style in-game. Adding custom skins to the title is a bit complicated, it's only available to PC players and you won't exactly be able to display them as easily as the built-in skins.
But if you've been wanting to trick out your favorite color astronaut, Redditor Zoeyfan69 posted a guide on how to being importing new cosmetics into Among Us back in September. Keep in mind, that unless you're designing your own skins on Photoshop running third-party skins can come at some risk of downloading malicious software, like trojans or spyware.
Remember to browse and choose responsibly, here's how to get started.
Step 1: Edit the Among Us Asset File
To get started, you'll need to install a Unity Assets Bundle Extractor, which can be downloaded and installed here. This software will let you open and edit the internal Among Us files that you'll need access to in order to import skins.
Once you're running UABE, navigate to Among Us' file address, which should be the text below unless you changed where Steam stored the game's asset files.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Among Us\Among Us_Data
From there you'll need to open the file sharedassets0.assets in UABE, which should open a "Select a type database" menu. Scroll to the bottom of that menu and select the most recent database and click OK.
Step 2: Find a mod and load it
GameBanana is a popular online forum to find pre-compiled mods you can add to Among Us without having to make your own. Before downloading anything make sure you read the responses to the mod to make sure the file isn't malicious. Inverse advises against installing any mods that are brand-new and have little-to-no likes or comments.
Once find a mod you like, save it to your PC (onto your Desktop or a specific file would be easiest) and select "Load Package File" on UABE. That will prompt a "Load state from package" menu to appear.
Make sure all of the options in the menu are checked and that the base folder is set to if you're using the default Among Us file address:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Among Us\Among Us_Data\sharedassets0.assets
By doing this you're loading the mod you want in Among Us into the game's asset file. Hit OK and navigate to File then Save to export the modified version of the asset file. Then past the file into Among_Us_Data and the new assets and the new assets should now be imported into your copy of Among Us.
Unfortunately, you'll be able to see them unless you get your friends to go through the same process. Anyone without the mod will see you with nothing equipped since they don't have the asset file you've just added to the game.
Importing your own skins can be a bit of hassle, especially if you only play in random lobbies since no one will be able to see your custom outfit. But if you regularly play with friends, you can convince your group to add the same skin bundles for some fun screenshots during your session.
Among Us is out now for PC, iOS, and Android. Custom skins are only available for PC users.
