The Flappy Bird saga has taken a strange turn earlier today after its developer Dong Nguyen tweeted today that he would be taking the app down from both the iOS and Android app stores in the near future.
I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014
I chronicled Flappy Bird’s meteoric rise in a recent blog post and cited some reasons why I felt the app had gone viral. Others disputed the innocent nature of the app’s success, believing that it may have been the result of an app store hack or spam bot attack. Its hard to say where the truth lies on this one, but given the recent comments and actions by the developer, it seems that the success of Flappy Bird was nothing more than a happy accident – or in Nguyen’s case, an unhappy accident.
Nguyen’s reaction to Flappy Bird’s sudden success has been somewhat unique since the beginning. He gave only a few initial interviews when the Flappy Bird hype was just starting, but refused any further interviews shortly thereafter. In one of his initial interviews with Chocolate Lab Apps, Nguyen mentioned that this was all “just his luck”. After Flappy Bird mania swept the world and become something of a pop culture phenomenon, Nguyen urged others via Twitter to give him peace.
For a person raised in the US, this kind of reaction seems completely foreign and downright bizarre. There were reports that Flappy Bird was generating as much as $50k a DAY from the ads within his apps. We dream about stumbling into that kind of financial windfall! But what could be considered an incredible gift to some, can be viewed as a heavy burden and curse to others. Nguyen’s reaction begins to make more sense when you consider his cultural background and humble origins in Vietnam.
Reaction from the industry has been one of mostly confusion, but some provide some additional context to Nguyen’s odd decision:
Seeing how my relatives live in Vietnam, it's not a surprise the Flappy Bird developer hates the way it is affecting his life.
— Loqheart (@loqheart) February 8, 2014
@ShaneLK7 Sudden wealth and fame in a poor community/family can ruin your life and relationships. Everyone wants a piece of you.
— Loqheart (@loqheart) February 8, 2014
It will be interesting to see how this saga will end. Nguyen mentioned that he would not be selling Flappy Bird and that he would continue to make games. At this moment, Flappy Bird still tops the charts. How will users react to its removal? Will Nguyen make any attempts to stop anyone from selling a complete clone of the game – name and all? If not, someone out there serves to make a lot of money from a cloned app – rank #1 for flappy bird and profit.
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