Only Up!, the brutally difficult platformer that took Twitch by storm earlier this year, has been voluntarily removed from Steam by its creator.
Only Up! was created by SCKR Games, a studio consisting of just one person known as Indiesolodev. In a final update on Steam, they state that the game has been a source of stress over the past several months, and they now want to put the game behind them.
Indiesolodev will take the time off to grow as a developer, and they shared plans for a new game in the works called Kith.
“‘Kith’ – it will be a new experience and a new concept with realism, a completely different genre and setting, and the emphasis is on cinematography. 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.”
This is not the first time Only Up! was removed from Steam. It was taken down briefly back in late June amidst controversy regarding stolen assets. Indiesolodev quickly removed the problematic assets, and the updated game was back on Steam in a matter of days.
There has also been pushback to NFT artwork being featured on some assets in what many players saw as an advertisement for NFTs.
Despite the controversy and janky controls, Only Up! was quite popular on Twitch for a time, attracting the attention of let’s players and speedrunners. With the sudden increase in scrutiny, it’s no wonder the developer felt stressed.
I’m glad Indiesolodev is taking some time for themselves. Hopefully, with the support of a team behind them, the development of Kith goes much more smoothly.
