Remember Only Up!, that viral sensation that had Twitch streamers and gamers alike hurling keyboards and controllers in frustration? If you’ve been living under a rock, Only Up! was the game that took everyone by storm earlier this year. But, in a twist that no one saw coming, the game’s developer has pulled it from Steam – again.
Developed by SCKR Games, a studio that’s essentially a one-man army, Only Up! was the kind of game that made you question your life choices. The premise was simple: climb, climb, and keep climbing. But one wrong move, and it’s back to square one.
Sounds fun, right? Well, it was, in a sadistic sort of way. The game’s popularity skyrocketed, attracting up to 280,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch. But, with great power comes great stress.
The developer, in a heartfelt message on Steam, revealed that the indie game was their debut – a project born out of creativity and a desire to test themselves. Unfortunately, the overwhelming attention and the weight of managing such a viral hit took its toll.
“I’m a solo developer and this game is my first experience in gamedev, a game I did for creativity, to test myself, and where I made a lot of mistakes. The game has kept me under a lot of stress all these months. Now I want to put the game behind me. And yes. the game won’t be available in the Steam store soon, that’s what I decided myself.”
“What I need now is peace of mind and healing. I plan to take a pause, and continue my education in game design and further with new experience and knowledge to direct my energies to my next game.”
While Only Up! may be on an indefinite hiatus, the developer isn’t. They’ve hinted at a new project titled Kith, promising a new experience with a focus on realism and cinematography. And this time, they’re hoping to collaborate with a small team, having learned a painful lesson from the overwhelming solo development of Only Up!
This time I hope the project will be created by a small team. This is a challenging project on which I want to significantly improve my skills in game design.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Only Up! has been removed from Steam. Back in June, the game faced accusations of using copyrighted assets. If you’ve played the game, you’ll be familiar with a particular giant statue of a girl. Well, as it turns out, the 3D model wasn’t licensed for commercial use. Fortunately, the game did make a brief return with a new statue, but the damage was already done.
The story of Only Up! shares similarities with the side-scrolling mobile game Flappy Bird. Both games were created by solo designers, with Dong Nguyen behind Flappy Bird. When Flappy Bird was released in 2013, it quickly gained popularity, mainly because of its challenging gameplay.
Fast forward a year, and Flappy Bird was removed from both the App Store and Google Play Store. While Nguyen had claimed the reason behind its removal was due to its addictive nature, many believed the allegations of it borrowing from Nintendo’s Super Mario art style prompted Nguyen to withdraw the game, fearing potential lawsuits.
While Only Up! may have taken a step back, we can only hope that its developer finds the peace and healing they seek. And who knows? Maybe Kith will be the next big thing.
