In Only Up you have to climb a tower, and you can’t take a wrong step. Now the popular game surprisingly disappears from Steam.
It was only a few months ago that the surprise hit Only Up attracted (partly hundreds of thousands of viewers) on Twitch. While those days are over, and the title has been able to attract relatively few active players lately, the developer’s latest announcement still comes as a surprise.
Suddenly gone
Last week, a small update with various bug fixes and improvements was released for Only Up. And this might be the last one, because the (Solo developer announced):
This game is my first development experience, a title I made for creativity, to test myself, and where I made many mistakes. The game has caused me a lot of stress during all these months. Now I want to put it behind me. And yes, the game will soon no longer be available on the Steam Store. I have decided that myself. What I need now is peace of mind and healing.
Meanwhile, it is no longer possible to buy Only Up, even if it still shows up in the Steam Store. Those who have the game can still play it, though, and there’s nothing to suggest that might change. It remains unclear why the end of development wasn’t simply announced, and the game can still be purchased.
The developer’s statement of having made many mistakes is also a possible explanation for the drastic step. For example, Only Up was repeatedly criticized because the game on the one hand promoted NFTs, but also because assets and sound effects from other artists and games were initially used illegally. The title was (even briefly removed from Steam) because of this, after which all affected elements were removed.
It should go on
As the developer of Only Up further elaborates in the Steam blog, he does not want to turn away from his profession, however, but to continue his education and then develop a new game with the working title Kith
. This is to be in a completely new genre and setting, plus the game is to be developed by a small team this time.
Have you played Only Up yet? Were you excited about the tricky course, or did the game rather frustrate you? Did you buy it in time and can now try it out despite the sales stop? Which game do you still have in your library that can’t be bought anymore? Feel free to post it in the comments!
