The creator of Flappy Bird has caused quite a stir after removing his top-selling game from the mobile market last week. There’s more to the story than just him being unhappy with consumer feedback, though.
During an interview with Forbes, Dong Nguyen described Flappy Bird as “an addictive product”, and unexpectedly so. His course of action was to remove it from the market before it can “become a problem”.
Nguyen didn’t intend for it to be addictive. He explained that “Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed”. For the millions who have downloaded it, relaxation is just about the last thing that comes to mind given the title’s grueling difficulty.
Flappy Bird quickly accelerated to the top of the sales charts on the App Store and Google Play after months of being available. The game was performing well enough to earn Nguyen $50,000 per day from advertising revenue, as stated in an article on The Verge.
Money doesn’t bring happiness, or at least not in Nguyen’s case. The impact it has had on his life is enough for him to no longer want to share it with the world. He caught traction across the web when he posted a message stating the following:
I am sorry Flappy Bird users, 22 hours from now, I will take Flappy Bird down. I cannot take this anymore
The game’s tough difficulty has summoned some frustration-fueled hatred from consumers. This anger has been vented through e-mails to Nguyen and user reviews for the game. As much as that’s been a factor, Nguyen has continued to point to the game’s addictive nature for removing the game from the market.
