In a rather interesting turn of events, Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen has announced that the chart-topping game will be removed from the App Store in less than 22 hours. In a series of tweets made just minutes ago, Nguyen stated that this move is not due to legal issues, but rather because he “just cannot keep it anymore.” Take a look for yourself…
I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014
It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014
Nguyen also made clear on Twitter that he wasn’t interested in selling the game to a third party, and that despite this decision, he will keep making games. It’s unclear at this time if the developer will also pull his other games from the App Store, including Super Ball Juggling which currently ranks #5.
Flappy Bird was released last May to little fanfare, but became an overnight success about a month ago and has been topping the App Store free charts since. In a recent interview, Nguyen claimed that the ad-supported game has been making upwards of $50,000 per day in revenues. The concept behind the game is both simple yet challenging: navigate a tiny bird through pipes by tapping your screen at the proper times.
What makes this move interesting is that Flappy Bird had just received an update yesterday with new birds, bug fixes and some user interface improvements. But the sudden decision for Nguyen to pull the arcade game from the App Store may be related to a tweet he made just four days ago, in which he vented his frustration about the media overhyping the title much to his chagrin.
Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 4, 2014
If you have yet to get in on the Flappy Bird craze, the game is still available as a free download on the App Store. If you already have the game on your iPhone or if you decide to download it now, you’ll still be able to play it after it’s been pulled from the App Store.
Does this news surprise you? And by the way, what is your Flappy Bird high score?