Last May, a small independent game developer placed his latest creation on the Android and iTunes App stores. It had a simple concept, you navigate an awkward looking bird through a series of pipes at different heights; however, behind this hideously cute facade, hid one of the most challenging free games on the market.Any slight mishap and the bird would find it’s way to the bottom of the screen, indicating the players lose. This difficulty lead to fierce competition among friends on Social Media platforms,  trying to best each other scores, which were normally much lower for a typical arcade experience. Flappy Birds became an obsession for many.

It was initially slow to pick up, but in the most recent months it’s fortunes have been reversed. Shooting to the top of the free game categories in both major app stores, Dong Nguyen, Flappy Birds’ Vietnamese creator, was overwhelmed by the amount of success and positive reception. He was making upwards of $50,000 a day, and the brand was growing at a rate similar to Angry Birds and Candy Crush. There were videos uploaded online demonstrating techniques and guides helping new players traverse the evil pipe maze that haunted their nightmares.  It was downloaded over 50 million times between Android and iTunes, an amazing feat.

Unfortunately, Nguyen wasn’t entirely to thrilled about the frenzy surrounding the free game; apparently, all of the hubbub distracted from his low key, simple life. On February 8th, he decided to finally shut it down, taking to Twitter to announce his plans. Turning down possibly millions of dollars in revenue,  he stated that he wanted to go back to his old life, but promised he would be back with new games in the future. Fans were obviously unhappy with the decisions, some were so moved to fury that they actually sent death threats. However, Nguyen promises this wasn’t a ploy and was distraught over what his game had cause.

“Flappy Bird has unexpected effects,” says Nguyen. “It causes addiction (in) people. I think it is an unexpected problem … and I have to remove it.” These admirable words were said to USA Today, during their email interview. Hopefully, fans will be able to work through their withdrawals and he has saved enough money to lead a contented life.

Jimi (@Nativejimi)