'Flappy Bird' Creator: Game Was Pulled Because It Became an 'Addictive Product'

Tuesday February 11, 2014 1:02 am PST by Richard Padilla

Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen has publicly spoken for the first time since pulling the popular game from the App Store in a new interview with Forbes. In the interview, Nguyen states that Flappy Bird was removed because it was becoming an "addictive product," going on to say that guilt and discomfort ultimately influenced his final decision to take the game down.

Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed,” says Dong Nguyen, in an exclusive interview, his first since he pulled the plug on the app. “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.”

Nguyen added in the interview that he developed the game over the course of "two or three days" and said that Nintendo did not send him any legal threats over the game's similarities to the original "Super Mario Bros." title, corroborating a report from yesterday. The developer noted that he feels there was no mistake in removing the title from App Store, also saying that he will continue to develop games due to the confidence he gained after the success of Flappy Bird.

Before being taken down, Flappy Bird was the number one downloaded free app on Apple's App Store for almost a month, generating a reported $50,000/day in revenue from in-app ads. Nguyen had also previously expressed frustration at the attention he received during the game's sudden spike in popularity on his Twitter before announcing that he would remove it.

Top Rated Comments

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Stickrbox

Posted: 9 weeks ago

>"I can't take all the attention, I'm going to remove Flappy Bird"
>Gives interview

Rating: 32 Positives

Frizers

Posted: 9 weeks ago

I didn't find it addictive. There's only so many times that I can crash into the first pipe before losing interest :P

Rating: 16 Positives

Tilpots

Posted: 9 weeks ago

Sick of the Flappy Bird stories.

Rating: 12 Positives

antonis

Posted: 9 weeks ago

So, according to his opinion, the problem with the game was that it was better than it should ?

Western logic or not, this guy makes less and less sense every time he tries to explain it.

Rating: 10 Positives

Frazzle

Posted: 9 weeks ago

For many Western audiences, his move must be totally incomprehensible. After all, earning over $50k a day is most people's ultimate goal isn't it? Great to see that different attitudes to success still exist - at least, by the looks of it. :o

Rating: 9 Positives

DrNeroCF

Posted: 9 weeks ago

Can't wait to see all the inevitable articles with the headline 'Creator of Flappy Bird Releases New App!' :rolleyes:

Rating: 6 Positives

arn

Posted: 9 weeks ago

here's an interesting tweet from him back in April, 2013 (before Flappy Bird was released)

https://twitter.com/dongatory/status/321385232408403968

A man only lives once and the best strategy is always to make most of it. Success is not the only reason for existence.

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Yeah I was going to ask about this also...

You can redownload the app if you have already downloaded it from the app store before.

arn

Rating: 6 Positives

sshambles

Posted: 9 weeks ago

So I assume also he continues to make money then despite it being removed?

Success might not be the only reason for an existence, but it sure makes for a nice way to exist.

Rating: 6 Positives

samonaz

Posted: 9 weeks ago

He should have added some kind of restrictions like Candy Crush. You have only 5 lives after which you can play only after 24 hours and of-course without in app-purchase.

Rating: 6 Positives

dannyyankou

Posted: 9 weeks ago

Ok, I'm not one to complain about Macrumors stories, but doesn't 4 flappy bird articles in one week seem a bit excessive to anyone else?! I mean, after the first one, there could've been an Update: instead of a separate story.

Rating: 5 Positives

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