Flappy Bird flies off the app store
With over an estimated 50 million downloads, the game “Flappy Bird” flies no more.
“I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users. 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore,” creator Dong Nguyen said via his Twitter page on Feb. 8.
Nguyen, a Vietnamese video game developer created the game over a span of two to three days and released it on May 24, 2013 through Apple’s App Store. It was later added to Google Play’s Android market on Jan. 30, 2014.
The objective of the game is to guide a constantly moving bird through a set of pipes with crashing into the pipes resulting in a game over. The farther one progresses through the game, the higher one’s score.
“It’s very addictive,” said Zachary Middleton, a student from Hudson Valley. “People like challenges. In a game with no end point, it’s extremely challenging,” said Middleton.
Other Hudson Valley students shared similar opinions.
“It’s so difficult but it doesn’t really seem like it should be, so you kind of push yourself,” said student Amber Savio.
“Flappy Bird” did not become popular until January of this year, when it became the number one app downloaded on iTunes and the Android market. Although free to download, Nguyen was reportedly making $50,000 a day through in-game advertising.
The game’s success, however, came at a personal price for Nguyen.
In an exclusive interview with Forbes, Nyugen said, “Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed. But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
On Nyugen’s Twitter page, he sent a tweet that said “I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it.”
Originally, it was thought that “Flappy Bird” was removed because it was under fire by Nintendo for copyright violations, but these rumors have been proven false. Shortly after the app’s removal, Nintendo released a statement that said it “did not contact the creator. We also did not seek it’s removal from the marketplace.”
“Flappy Bird” is still available to users who downloaded the game before Feb. 9.
Since the game was removed, several game developers have tried to create games similar to “Flappy Bird” but so far none seem to be soaring to the success of the original.