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As promised, you can no longer download Flappy Bird from the App Store

Screenshot 2014-02-09 12.34.20

As expected, developer Dong Nguyen has removed his popular Flappy bird app from the App Store as of around Noon ET.  While the app still shows up in iTunes, it isn’t available for download. Those who’ve downloaded it already will be able to continue playing.

It isn’t exactly clear why Nguyen removed the popular app but it seems like the Developer didn’t find the negatives of being in the limelight to his liking. In a series of Tweets yesterday, Nguyen said that “I cannot take this anymore.” and “I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it.”

It is estimated that the app was earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.  He said he wasn’t interested in selling the app and it will likely spawn many ripoffs.

In the meantime, if you are after some more of Dong Nguyen’s work, Super Ball Juggling and Shuriken Block are at the moment still in the App Store.

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Comments

  1. XPWINNER6656 - 10 years ago

    My rap:

    Yo, good news everybody, if you need a package, you can send it to a weird planet or something,
    we need some dummies to get into harms way, cut the dark, let the fuel, the crew is on there way.
    There is a Doctor who has got less money than us, he has got some files when the time he reports, we got a captain with a single eye, the single rings, oh yeah, who’s kind of old and spends most of he’s time mumbling, how about the Robot with the drinking problem, we got a tour around the town, where we are thinking of and I wouldn’t say, but I guess he’s kind of is, but the time causes whatmatter what time it is, there only a few bucks to get into the Academy at the city or Venetta, where we learn about factory’s, yo, papa spin’s, and they say you need to get away, and you have to get there quick! We are just us, with the best day ever, there there, and the package don’t need a second there, from where we see the beast, from where we see the beast, and the people have got to follow us, planet express, we are the best, but we are getting there, the package don’t need a second there, from when we have detention, and we suck the beats, from bounty, when we climb the mountain, and then, we see some Dudes, the dues have got some flashy clothes are we there, from when we miss the boun bus, and when we see something, we know that it’s got a capsel, we know what’s going on, and we have probarly been there, then the glimpse is there, the global men there, yo, from here, when we change the cavaty, but, we will get it eventally, some, from …New York, that, we cannot be, the group has sold the wrong, from brambling’s law, not to yet to mention, jumping in the pair of blocks, like, sensible, percalues, from we are, see bobaodos, yeah, from when we know what matter type we are, predic amment, we are on the so cool planet express, yo, passing the test, after this, we will be passing it back, yo, yes, the mass for delivery for, from Asian, to let the package go to shaw…to the location, planet express, we are the best at everything, we are deliving a package but now, we are just getting there, we see some memories, we see some people drunk, we get our memories pronted on the front, we are the best, we are planet express, we are the best at getting there, when we see the package, it don’t have to wait a second there, we lower the tempretaure so we can see the sun, are job, we are doing it because we are done, the future, you will be the capain, and you will be the delivery boy, and you will be the fat robotic machine, omg, you are alive! Ahhhh

  2. Chris Duffy - 10 years ago

    Luckily, I got it before it was removed. Now, I can continue to hate my life while others get to live one of fulfillment and happiness. haha.

    In all actuality, it’s a fun game. Definitely not the most refined, but it’s a time kill. In that sense it does very well.

    Sad to see it go.

  3. silas681 - 10 years ago

    Whilst I feel sorry for the guy and how he has been overwhelmed by his creation, it is kind of heartening that this wasnt some kind of advertising stunt to get people to download the game.

    Waiting for obnoxious comments from tallestskill (are there any other kind?)

    • Tallest Skil - 10 years ago

      Cover your foot in humble pie and stuff it in your mouth, imbecile. Check the new rumor about the app.

  4. Still trying to figure out how earning over $50,000 can ruin your life.

    I also don’t understand why he wouldn’t/doesn’t want to sell it?! What’s so bad about making a great game that generates that kind of revenue and not sell it to the highest bidder? Why not sell it to Rovio or GameLoft for a couple million and live off the interest while you construct your next hit?!!

    Hoping someone scores and interview with him to get the bottom of this issue.

    • thebums66 - 10 years ago

      I thought Apple took almost all of the money? I thought you had to hit a certain download number before the money started coming to you. Maybe somebody with more knowledge of the inner workings of Apple can shed some light on this.

      • ifunography - 10 years ago

        Apple takes a 30% cut on paid downloads and in-app purchases – so not “almost all the money.” Apple takes zero cut for advertising revenue, but they would benefit in some way if the developer uses their iAd platform but there are several other options available such as Google AdMob, RevMob, Millennial Media, etc . Since the game was free with ads, that $50,000 figure was exactly what the developer was making.

        In terms of payout thresholds, It’s not the really the number of downloads, but the amount of revenue generated. I think the threshold for payout is US$20. For this game that threshold wasn’t a problem either.

  5. Howie Isaacks - 10 years ago

    There’s a lot more to this than this guy is saying. Unless he’s a total communist with no understanding of private property, and making a profit from creating a product, why remove the app from the App Store just because he can’t handle the success? Why not instead hire someone else to deal with the complications? What if every other successful developer did this?

    • Johnny Slapstick - 10 years ago

      I actually never heard of this app before reading this post. I expect someone will make him a offer to buy the app code and he will sell it.
      I applaud this guy for doing what he wants. I know from experience that when you are one person and don’t want the hassle of hiring other people to help you do work, then the burden of too much work to do can be exhausting. The guy probably had to spend every extra minute he had making software updates, etc. If you don’t want to become an actual development company working in such a volatile market of mobile games (which come and go quickly as far as trends) then you have two options, sell the game to another development company or stop production on the game.

    • Torrey Huerta - 10 years ago

      I agree, although I wouldn’t call him a moron. Personally, I think he’s run into legal issues and was requested to pull it down or face consequences. $50K per day would certainly help melt away any problems in “my” simple life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to learn to code and put something, anything, up on the app store. :P

  6. bwulfe - 10 years ago

    What a moron! If being financially secure is ruining your life and you just can’t deal with earning income from a top revenue earning app; there are better ways of dealing with it than acting like a total mental loser. DONATE the rights / income from the sales to a charitable organization or other worthy cause. Dedicate the funds to a children’s hospital; Battered Women’s Shrlter(s), Soup Kitchen(s), Mental Health or other cause/ group of your choice.

    I don’t have time to play many games; so having this app removed from the App Store is as relevant to me as when Apple declared (about 4 years ago) that they wouldn’t be approving any more fart apps. What grabs my attention is when someone has the ability to do something productive with their talent and instead chooses to cry / complain about their life being ruined because people actually appreciate (and thus purchase) the fruit of their labor.

    Just my personal opinion; but it seems such a waste of potential….

  7. Jess Abarratigue Abayan - 10 years ago

    You can download flappy birds here for android users http://flappybird-download.blogspot.com/

    • Tallest Skil - 10 years ago

      Never. For any reason. At any time. Stop being an idiot and thinking Internet petitions mean anything to anyone.

  8. Jared - 10 years ago

    I expect that it’s a ploy. I rather good one at that. Announce to remove, everyone goes and downloads it, leave it on the app store for game center and ad banners to continue to work. This multiplied the reviews from 50k to around 125k in a day. That leads me to believe the potential he has for ad revenue also multiplied.

    Smart kid.

  9. Nintendo probably called and asked where he got the green pipe graphic from? Mario wants his pipes back!

  10. Mahmoud El Mossalami - 10 years ago

    The android guys can still download it here… http://youtu.be/AGaRc1kK3js

    Sooner or later i Think something similar will happen to iOS ;)

  11. Alejandro Aleman - 10 years ago

    Oh no!, EA, come on please!!!!, That’s what we need!!, EA purchasing the rights of the game, load it with hundreds of InApp purchases and then place it as freemium app!

    Imagine:

    Pipes increased by 200 pixeles of length

    Flap pack: -5 pixels on the pipe (each end): 5€ or 8123 eggs (game currency)
    Flap fat pack: -5 pixels on the pipe -5 pixel diet plan for the bird 8.99€ (12812 eggs)
    Feather flap pack: Condor feathers to let the bird fly for 0.112 seconds longer (120k eggs): 14.99€
    Goku flap pack: Teleport to the end of the scenery (3x) 5€ or 8123 eggs
    Fap Flap Cyclops Pack: laser-drill all the pipes and fly thru them: (69€) or 23983692 eggs

    but of course, as usual, you can get eggs for free, each 300 pipes you will be rewarded with 5 or 6 eggs, so you need to play it until you get old in order to get some bonus, or use your real farm eggs….