A janky however brutal platformer, Solely Up! blew up this Could after turning into a sensational hit with Twitch viewers. It’s one in every of 2023’s most viral Steam video games up to now. Nevertheless, in a surprising and abrupt determination, the developer has eliminated the sport from Steam, with no plans for it to return to the platform. In a submit, the solo developer behind Solely Up! acknowledged that this was their first foray into making a sport, and now they need to say goodbye to it.
The Recognition Behind Solely Up!
Solely Up! launched in Could 2023, providing a third-person platforming expertise akin to the title Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy. The sport’s recognition didn’t peak till properly after its launch, because the indie closely relied on phrase of mouth to succeed in its viewers.
Due to its difficult nature, Solely Up! obtained its massive break when Twitch streamers like IShowSpeed, identified for enjoying high-difficulty video games began noticing it, in the end resulting in a viral gross sales interval. The parkour sport hit over 90,000 viewers on Twitch and 10,000 concurrency gamers in June. Nevertheless, Solely Up’s recognition declined considerably following its peak in July.
Solely Up! had a ‘Principally Optimistic’ evaluate rating after getting 12,000 person critiques, with some gamers praising its capricious 3D platforming. Nonetheless, a substantial chunk of unfavorable critiques critiqued its glitchy physics and hasty designs. Contemplating that Solely Up! was faraway from Steam for allegedly stealing belongings from different video games beforehand, the title additionally gained notoriety for being a sport that appeared prefer it was put collectively by slapping already-existing belongings collectively. Let’s not neglect that it marketed NFTs, too, with photos of Goblintown tokens showing on sure ranges.
“Peace of Thoughts and Therapeutic”
Indiesolodev, the brains behind Solely Up!, wrote within the sport’s Steam neighborhood that the title has stored him below a variety of stress for the previous few months since Solely Up! was launched, and now they need to put the sport behind them. He additionally acknowledged that what he wants now’s “pealing of thoughts and therapeutic,” and he plans to take a pause to additional his training on sport design.
With new information and experiences, Indiesolodev is prioritizing his sophomore mission, “Kith.” He describes it as a very completely different sport from Solely Up!, highlighting cinematography. We’re not fully positive what meaning till we see extra footage. Nonetheless, Indiesolodev desires it to be created by a small staff fairly than being a solo factor once more to forestall the stress of working as a solo operator.
Regardless of Its Sudden Disappearance, Solely Up! Raked In Hundreds of thousands
Gamers are already mourning the lack of the sport’s surprising disappearance. At the moment, Solely Up! has already been delisted from Steam, however its person critiques stay. Regardless of its controversy, although, Solely Up! was a large success. It was priced at $6, and through its comparatively brief time on the most important gaming storefront for PC platforms, it raked in round $2.6 million in gross income alone.
Will You Lose the Recreation If You Personal It?
For those who have purchased Solely Up! Earlier than the Steam itemizing has been torn down, there’s no want to stress—you received’t lose your buy of it since there’s no indication of Steam possession being rescinded. Solely Up! will solely be unavailable for individuals who don’t have or need to purchase the sport proper now. Gamers will previous purchases of Solely Up! and can proceed to have it of their libraries, obtainable to play and obtain anytime.
