Among Us has added a new layer of chaos to Emergency Meetings with update v18.0.0. Innersloth's latest Crewmate role, Judge, can take control of a meeting through an ability called Overrule.
Overrule lets the Judge choose a player for ejection even if everyone else voted differently or skipped. The power is deliberately risky, however: if the chosen player is not an Impostor, the Judge is the one who gets ejected instead.
Quick Summary
- Game: Among Us
- Developer: Innersloth
- Publisher: Innersloth
- Genre: Social deduction / party game
- Update: v18.0.0
- Official Innersloth date: August 18, 2026
- Japanese coverage date: August 19, 2026 due to publication/time-zone difference
- Availability: All Among Us platforms
- New role: Judge
- Team: Crewmate
- Ability: Overrule
- Overrule effect: Forces the Judge's chosen player to be ejected regardless of the vote
- Skip vote: Can be overruled
- Different majority target: Can be overruled
- Usage limit: Once per game
- Unlock requirement: Complete a set number of tasks
- Required tasks: Adjustable through Role Settings
- If the target is an Impostor: The target is ejected
- If the target is not an Impostor: The Judge is ejected
- Multiple Judges using Overrule simultaneously: First activation takes priority
- Other Judges: Their ability is refunded for a later Emergency Meeting
- New feature: Match Info Guide
- Match Info Guide: Displays players, role composition, and match settings
- Detective adjustment: Interrogate gains a cooldown after Emergency Meetings
- Base player count: 4–15
- Cross-platform: PC, consoles, Android, and iOS
- Main modes: Classic and Hide n Seek
- 2026 roadmap: Additional roles remain part of Innersloth's ongoing plans
Judge Announcement, Trailer, Steam, and Gameplay

Judge Can Overturn an Entire Lobby
Voting has always been one of Among Us' defining systems. After a body report or Emergency Meeting, players argue over who looks suspicious before either ejecting a suspect or skipping when the evidence feels insufficient.
Judge changes that equation through Overrule.
When activated, the Judge's decision can take precedence over the meeting result. It does not matter whether the majority selected another player or chose to skip—the Judge's chosen target becomes the decisive ejection.
For a Crewmate who believes an Impostor has successfully manipulated the room, that creates a way to act against the majority.
It is not a free second vote, however. The consequences of making the wrong call are severe.
Get It Wrong and the Judge Goes Out Instead
Overrule comes with a built-in punishment.
If the chosen player turns out not to be an Impostor, the target is spared and the Judge is ejected instead.
That makes the ability fundamentally different from simply adding more voting power. A Judge needs enough confidence in the accusation to risk their own survival.
The ability is also not immediately available at the beginning of a match.
Judges first need to complete a set number of tasks, with hosts able to adjust the requirement through Role Settings on the Dropship.
Even after it is unlocked, Overrule can only be used once per game, preventing a Judge from repeatedly taking control of later meetings.
What Happens With Multiple Judges?
Among Us allows lobby hosts to customize role composition, so more than one Judge can potentially appear in the same game.
Innersloth has already accounted for the possibility of several Judges attempting to use Overrule at once.
The Judge who activates the ability first gets priority.
Other Judges do not lose their one-time use. Their Overrule is effectively refunded, allowing them to try again during a later Emergency Meeting.
The rule prevents conflicting forced ejections from resolving simultaneously.
Multiple Judges can still create a new kind of social pressure, though, as different Crewmates may each believe they know who the real Impostor is.
Match Info Guide Makes Complex Lobbies Easier to Read
v18.0.0 also introduces the Match Info Guide, a quality-of-life feature previously outlined in Innersloth's 2026 roadmap.
The guide gives players a way to check the players in the match, the role setup, and the game settings selected by the lobby.
That becomes increasingly useful as Among Us adds more roles and configurable percentages.
Instead of relying entirely on memory from the pre-game setup, players can revisit important match information while trying to understand what abilities may be active.
Innersloth specifically identified growing role complexity as one reason for creating the guide.
Detective Receives a Balance Adjustment
The Detective role is also affected by the update.
Its Interrogate ability now receives a cooldown after Emergency Meetings.
Innersloth says the change is intended to give suspects some breathing room before another interrogation and to add more tension and balance to the role.
The basic purpose of Detective remains intact, but players can no longer return to Interrogate quite as quickly immediately after a meeting.
With Judge introducing another powerful Crewmate tool, the adjustment shows Innersloth continuing to tune how investigative and decision-making roles interact.
Judge Changes the Psychology of Emergency Meetings
In classic Among Us, a successful Impostor often survives by controlling the majority—building an alibi, redirecting suspicion, or convincing enough players that skipping is safer.
Judge makes that strategy less secure.
An Impostor can persuade almost the entire lobby and still be eliminated if a Judge has an unlocked Overrule and refuses to believe the story.
The opposite is equally dangerous for Crewmates. An Impostor who successfully frames an innocent player may bait the Judge into making a confident mistake and ejecting themselves.
Judge therefore adds more than an extra button. It creates a new decision around when to trust the majority, when to defy it, and when saving Overrule is safer than using it.
Why This Matters
1) Majority rule is no longer absolute
Judge can directly reject a lobby's decision, creating a new final layer to Emergency Meetings.
2) The punishment keeps the power from being free
Overrule is extremely influential, but a false accusation removes the Judge instead.
3) Tasks directly power the role
A Judge must earn access to Overrule through tasks, and the lobby host can tune how quickly that happens.
4) The update improves lobby readability
Match Info Guide becomes particularly valuable as role counts and custom settings continue to grow.
Game Information
Additional confirmed information includes:
- Among Us is developed and published by Innersloth
- the original game supports 4–15-player social deduction matches
- Crewmates win by completing tasks or ejecting all Impostors
- Impostors kill Crewmates and use sabotage while avoiding suspicion
- update v18.0.0 is available across all supported platforms
- Innersloth officially dates the update August 18, 2026
- Judge is a Crewmate role
- Overrule can replace the result of an Emergency Meeting
- it works even when the lobby votes to skip
- it works even when the majority selects another player
- Overrule is limited to one use per match
- Judge must complete tasks before unlocking it
- the task requirement is adjustable through Role Settings
- choosing a non-Impostor causes the Judge to be ejected
- if multiple Judges activate simultaneously, the first one takes priority
- other Judges receive their Overrule back
- Match Info Guide displays players, roles, and match settings
- Detective's Interrogate now has a post-Emergency Meeting cooldown
- Among Us supports cross-platform play between PC, consoles, Android, and iOS
- the Steam version includes Classic and Hide n Seek modes
- official update details are available through Innersloth
- the game is available through Among Us on Steam
- announcements are posted through Among Us on X
- the official Judge trailer is available on YouTube
Closing
Judge gives one Crewmate something ordinary players rarely have: the power to declare that the majority is wrong and directly override an Emergency Meeting. Innersloth balances that authority with a task requirement, a single-use limit, and the threat of self-ejection after a false accusation.
Among Us v18.0.0 is now available across supported platforms alongside Match Info Guide and the Detective cooldown adjustment, adding another layer of uncertainty to the game's already volatile meetings.
- Innersloth — Official Judge Role, Overrule Mechanics, Match Info Guide, and Detective Balance Update
- Among Us Official X — v18.0.0 Release on All Platforms and Judge Announcement
- YouTube — Official Among Us New Judge Role Trailer
- Innersloth — 2026 Roadmap Part 2, New Roles and Match Info Guide Plans
- Steam — Official Among Us Store Page, Player Count, Modes, Cross-Platform Support, and Languages
- Denfaminicogamer — Japanese Coverage of Judge, Overrule, Match Info Guide, and Detective Adjustment