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Only Up! delisted from Steam due to developer stress

The solo developer behind the hit 3D platformer wants to move on from the game.

Donovan Erskine

September 8, 2023 9:40 AM

Indiesolodev

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Earlier this year, Only Up! was released on Steam and exploded in popularity, primarily thanks to a plethora of streamers and creators who featured the game in their content. The 3D platformer has been compared to the likes of Jump King and Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, but its story has taken an unexpected turn. Only Up! has been delisted from Steam, with the developer citing stress.

Following Only Up!’s recent Steam delisting, PCGamesN spotted a note from the developer on the game’s Steam page, which provides some explanation behind the decision.

I’m a solo developer and this game is my first experience in game dev, 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.

They go on to reveal that they are in the early phases of development on their next game, which currently has the working title “Kith.” They also said that they plan to develop it with a small team, instead of doing the entire thing solo like with Only Up!

Many have compared Only Up!’s delisting to Flappy Bird, the popular mobile game that was pulled from the App Store and Google Play Store after developer Dong Nguyen expressed feelings of stress and guilt associated with the game.

Only Up!’s deceptively simple premise tasked players with ascending through the sky by climbing and platforming. It’s rage-inducing nature made it excellent livestream and YouTube video material, and it quickly became one of the year’s most popular indies after releasing in May.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_