‘Flappy Bird’ creator breaks silence, says he pulled hit game because it was ‘addictive’

Indie developer Dong Nguyen has broken his silence following the sudden removal of his popular Flappy Bird game recently. In an interview with Forbes, Nguyen says the game was originally designed to be played “when you are relaxed.” However, the notoriously difficult game, created in mid-2013, rose to fame recently, with some social network and YouTube users pointing out comically just how frustrating it is to navigate Mario-style pipes with a pixelated bird. “But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem,” explains Nguyen. To solve that, Nguyen removed the app last weekend, and he notes, “it’s gone forever.”

The popularity of the game, which Nguyen revealed to The Verge, generates on average $50,000 per day from in-app ads, appears to have had its negatives. “My life has not been as comfortable as I was before,” says Nguyen. “I couldn’t sleep.” Forbes reports that Nguyen has spent the last few days internet-free and resting up, while also suddenly meeting Vietnam’s deputy prime minister ahead of the publication’s interview. Despite the time for reflection, Nguyen doesn’t believe the sudden removal of the game was a mistake. “I have thought it through,” he explains.

The sudden and surprising popularity of Flappy Bird has spawned countless clones of the game, as well as a web version that combines Flappy Bird and doge to create a pixelated shiba. Several enterprising eBay users have even listed their phones for sale with a copy of Flappy Bird installed, hoping to cash in on the Flappy Bird craze.