The mystery of Flappy Bird

By: Brad Tripp

Number 82. You have one more to beat your personal best. However, the pole kills Flappy and you throw your phone in anger. The screen lightly cracks and you delete the game in a rage of first world problems. The next day, you try to re-download the game, but I’ts no longer in your history or on the app market. What happened to Flappy?

 

Well, if you didn’t know, “Flappy Bird” is/was a game where a flightless bird is guided through Mario style tubes. The player’s goal was to tap the screen and maneuver through the gaps in between the tubes without touching them or the ground. (It’s like flying a brick and you’re the brain for it to flap its wings).

 

According to CNN.com, in May of 2013 Flappy Bird was released, but didn’t become a top rated app until January of 2014. The creator (Dong Nyugen) told Chocolate Lab Apps that he created Flappy Bird in two or three days and didn’t promote the game. According to Forbes Magazine, Flappy Bird produced about fifty thousand dollars a day ( in February of 2014) from advertising, so money was no issue.

 

So, why did this popular game get pulled from app stores? Well, sometime in February, Nyguen had an interview with Forbes.com in which he stated, “The game was conceived as a fun way to kill a few minutes, but became an addictive product. I think it has become a problem." The game, he added, is "gone forever." Bad reviews from outraged people created a giant amount of stress on its creator Dong Nyugen. Eventually, he had enough and pulled the app from app stores.

 

Is stress why he took down the game? Many believe this is not why he took down the game. According to Forbes.com, Nyguen may be using the “Disney vault method.” This is where the product is out for a short amount of time to get a rush to get the product. After a certain amount of time the product is removed and not sold until later on. The product is then later released for a short time to receive that rush to get it before it’s gone.

Nyugen later told Forbes, however, he would not be bringing back Flappy Bird.

 

Will we ever see the flying brick again? Only time will tell.