Flappy Bird will no longer be available for downloading according to the game’s developer Dong Nguyen. The game was first released in May 2013, but for months no one seemed to notice. Then, suddenly, seemingly overnight, the game shot to worldwide popularity. Nguyen’s sudden decision to pull the game has fueled much speculation.
In a statement released on Saturday February 8, 2014, Nguyen said, I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down, I cannot take this anymore.
The game’s sudden rise to popularity seems to have fueled speculation about how it suddenly was noticed when the game had been relatively unsuccessful for eight months. Some people believe that bots were used to inflate the number of downloads artificially. If Apple can prove this, then it is very conceivable that Nguyen can face a lawsuit from Apple.
Others believe that Apple promoting this app that Nguyen says took him two or three days to develop in their stores is the reason for the success. On his behalf, Nguyen says that he did nothing to promote the app. The game had a four star rating in early February when it was pulled. Users had contributed more than 776,000 reviews.
Nguyen may be justified in saying that he cannot handle the pressure that people put on him because of the game. Some people reportedly are so addicted to the game that they blame the game for their marriages ending because one partner is so addicted to the game. He reports that he will still be producing games, so he may be building a market for his next new ap.
Those devices that already have the game downloaded will still be able to play the game. This has fueled a selling frenzy on popular online auction sites like eBay where sellers are offering devices with the game downloaded for as much as $15,000.