Tag: app-subdomain-redirection:only-up

‘Only Up’ was a success on Steam. Now, its creator has removed it to find some peace

Four months. That’s how long ‘Only Up’ has lasted on Steam, and it hasn’t been precisely because of a lack of success

Four months. That’s how long ‘Only Up‘ lasted on Steam, and it wasn’t because of a lack of success. Well-known streamers, from Rubius to Ibai, have all played this game of climbing to the top in a world full of bugs, frustration, and it became one of those unexpected sensations that Twitch occasionally gifts us (as happened with ‘Fall Guys’ or ‘Among Us’ in the past). So, why has its creator already decided that they don’t want to profit from it anymore?

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Always up

Indiesolodev, the developer, has discovered that fame has a double edge. It’s great to be on everyone’s lips, but only up to a certain point: “The game has stressed me out a lot all these months. Now I just want to forget it. And yes, it won’t be available on Steam, that’s what I’ve decided,” he comments.

It’s not a bad time to uncover the mental health issues behind success, because they do exist, and quite prominently: “Now I need peace to heal. I plan to take a break, continue learning game design, and later, with new experience and knowledge, focus my energy on the next game.” It would be unusual if after the hit, several game development companies hadn’t contacted him, but it’s not the first time something similar has happened, and it ends up coming to nothing.

Do you remember ‘Flappy Bird’? It was an absolute hit in 2013 and 2014, but its developer, .Gears, who was making around $50,000 per day, felt guilty about the addiction it caused in part of the population and decided to withdraw it without further explanation. Since then, they have never been able to replicate their success. Do ‘Swing Copters,’ ‘Fabitalk,’ and ‘BOOP’ sound familiar to you? Well, there’s a reason for that.

Who knows if in the future Indiesolodev, with a team, will be able to replicate the success of ‘Only Up,’ but for now, it’s possible that they have sacrificed their five minutes of glory in exchange for mental health. No one can blame them.

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Only Up: The Indie Game that Ibai, Rubius, and Other Influencers Have Turned into a Phenomenon

Now it’s the turn of & ‘Only Up!’, a very frustrating buggy title based on going as high as you can that is living its five seconds of fame (and taking advantage of them as much as possible).

It’s not surprising to see a game seemingly appear out of nowhere and suddenly everyone wants to try it, thanks to Twitch and streamers. ‘Fall Guys,’ ‘Among Us,’ or even ‘Fortnite’ owe their fame, even if it’s often overnight, to their status as “the trendy video game.” Now it’s the turn of ‘Only Up!’, a title full of frustrating bugs and based on climbing as high as possible, which is experiencing its five seconds of fame (and making the most of it).

Only Up DOWNLOAD

Always up

The game was released on Steam on May 24th with modest intentions (priced at around 7 euros during sales), but barely a month later, it had already surpassed 250,000 Twitch views across over 11,000 channels simultaneously, and the numbers kept rising. All the Spanish streamers have played it, from Ibai to Rubius, and even TheGrefg. For a few days, the frustration caused by such a simple game has captivated the entire community in a time that everyone assumed would be dominated by ‘Final Fantasy XVI.’

It makes sense: a game that causes frustration, which in turn can lead to exaggerated screams and various reactions. It’s like Valhalla for Twitch, which greatly appreciates extremes. Keep in mind that the game doesn’t have save points, so if you fall and fail to grab onto one of the protruding platforms, you have to start from scratch again, much to the amusement of the chats and the terror of the streamers.

The game truly delivers on its promise: you start at the bottom, and your objective is to reach the top while navigating through a stage filled with obstacles and bugs that make it challenging to control your jumps. It’s pure absurd tension in a game that could have easily been forgotten, but instead, it has climbed its way up to becoming one of the top 50 best-selling games on Steam in no time. They have definitely made a more than sufficient return on their investment.

The beauty of the internet is that you never know what the next big thing will be: today it’s a game about reaching the highest point and uncovering the secret ending, which some can achieve in just 15 minutes through insane speedruns. Tomorrow, it could be something entirely different. The key is to allow ourselves to be surprised and keep moving forward, always aiming higher, no matter how absurd it may seem.

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