After weeks of harsh criticism from its users, the popular Flappy Bird app has been removed from the App Store as of February 9.
Dong Nguyen, a 29-year-old Vietnamese game maker, released the iPhone and Android game May 24, 2013. The app gradually rose in popularity, eventually reaching the number one spot on the App Store charts January 27.
The game involves tapping the screen to get an animated bird to fly through sets of obstacles. Despite its seemingly simple premise, game players have criticized Flappy Bird for being extremely difficult and aggravating.
Many angered Flappy Bird users have even mocked the game, creating parody apps such as “Squishy Bird,” in which users earn points by crushing the bird.
“The game is so hard, yet somehow so addictive,” Convent of the Sacred Heart junior Concetta Brusco said. “I kind of have a love-hate relationship with it.”
Before Flappy Bird was taken down, over 50 million iPhone and Android users purchased the game. Nguyen was earning over $50,000 dollars per day from advertisements, according to Time.com.
Despite the increasing popularity and revenue of the game, Nguyen announced on his Twitter account February 8 that he would be removing the game from the App Store. Although customers who had already bought the game were able to keep it on their phones, it is no longer available for purchase.
“I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore,” Nguyen said on his Twitter account.
While some critics have speculated that Nguyen may have been facing legal issues with the app, he denounced those rumors.
“It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore,” Nguyen said.
More of Nguyen’s tweets reveal that he may have had issues dealing with the game’s fame.
“I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it,” Nguyen said.
Shortly after Nguyen made this announcement, online sources began circulating rumors that he committed suicide. However, these spurious speculations originated from unreliable sources such as huzlers.com, a website known to generate satirical articles.
While Nguyen did remove the game from the App Store, he resolves to continue making iPhone and Android games.
“While I do really like the game, I think it’s a little ridiculous that it’s gotten this much press and caused so much drama,” Concetta said. “However, I am happy I downloaded the game before it was deleted from the App Store, and I definitely will keep playing it.”
-Anna Phillips, Co-Features Editor