Viral hit OnlyUp climbs to new heights through custom Fortnite map as player count soars

Only Up fever has gripped Fortnite, with its player-made clone hitting new heights and creating a frenzy in the Battle Royale community.

The custom mode “OnlyUp Fortnite,” inspired by the hit game “Only Up!” on Steam, has stormed into the Fortnite scene, reaching an astounding 113,933 concurrent players on July 6.

The original Only Up! game revolves around ascending a challenging obstacle course designed to test players’ navigation skills, precise jumping, and tenacity.

Only Up! caught the attention of famed streamers, including Fortnite legend Ninja, who completed the game on his first attempt, despite its difficult reputation.

Drawing inspiration from the popular game, creator ‘ArmyUnits‘ replicated the experience in Fortnite’s Creative 2.0 platform, offering the Fortnite community an opportunity to experience the thrill of Only Up! without leaving their favorite Battle Royale game.

With its player base expanding rapidly, it is only trailing behind official Fortnite playlists including the original Battle Royale, Zero Build Battle Royale, and Ranked Battle Royale, in terms of player count.

Intriguingly, despite its cult status among gamers and streamers, the original Only Up! game only managed a peak of 11,135 concurrent players on Steam Charts.

Its price tag, which doesn’t factor into the free-to-play Fortnite’s user-generated OnlyUp Fortnite, is likely a factor in this discrepancy.

NickEh30 streamed Fortnite’s Only Up clone on Twitch

Reddit’s ‘FortniteCreative’ community has been debating the future of Fortnite amidst this Only Up fever. User ‘SpireletYT’ questioned, “Is Only Up (Fortnite) a sign of the future?” Their concern centers on the fear that Fortnite might slide into a routine of low-quality creative maps, even going as far as referring to OnlyUp Fortnite as a “cheap knockoff of a licensed game.”

Conversely, ‘Pepsipierat’ believes the current popularity surge is tied to the hype around the free game and anticipates future high-quality games will draw significant player attention.

However, this divide hasn’t slowed the momentum of other inspired users eager to make their mark on Fortnite. One user, ‘rohji,’ put a creative spin on the popular theme, introducing a gravity-defying concept called Only Down. In this version, players must nimbly navigate a complex obstacle course heading downwards, with the unique twist of avoiding fall damage.

But for now, players looking to begin their vertical adventure on OnlyUp Fortnite can do so by punching in the game code 4366-9611-6988.