Business
Flappy Bird flies no more as game brings no joy
Flappy Bird’s creator Nguyen Ha Dong has explained that he took down the smash-hit game from Apple’s App Store and Google Play as it failed to bring excitement to players as he had expected.
In his own interview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s VietnamPlus e-newspaper, the 29-year-old independent game developer shared that he felt very happy when his game became popular worldwide
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However, Dong encountered problems with the game when he started receiving many complaints that the no-frills game was an addictive product.
“I realised that the game had become too addictive, which is harmful to gamers,” Dong said.
“I was not uncomfortable with accusations that the game was an imitation, but I felt that Flappy Bird may bring negative results,” he added.
Actually, the Hanoi-based game creator’s writings on Twitter have explained his action.
He stressed that his removal of the game is not connected to legal issues or pressures as rumoured.
According to Dong, he received encouragement and support from Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam during their talks on February 11.
Deputy PM Dam was the first person the game developer met after he pulled the game from online stores. Dong then granted interviews with two foreign newspapers.
He said his parents didn’t know anything about the game until it was widely covered by the media. He said he also read no news about the game in domestic newspapers.
“Through my friends, I see something wrong with the issue but I do not care much about this,” he said.
Actually, I feel uncomfortable as many reporters want to interview me about the game,” he noted.
Early on the morning of February 10, Flappy Bird’s creator, independent game developer Nguyen Ha Dong, pulled the smash-hit game from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Dong’s decision was tweeted 22 hours earlier. Some people thought this may be a PR stunt, others advised Dong not to act spontaneously. Meanwhile, some said he made the right decision.
The world leading game producer Nintendo raised its voice on the game on February 10 for the first time, after opinions that Flappy Bird's simple graphics appeared to owe some debt to its early Mario Brothers games, particularly the pipes.
A Nintendo spokesman told AFP that the company has not taken any action this time.
Flappy Bird was first released in May last year and became the number one game in both Apple’s App Store and Google Play from mid-January this year.
According to some technology websites, the reason why the game spread so fast could be attributed to the fact that it disappointed players.
Flappy Bird features 2D retro-style graphics. The aim of the game is to direct a flying bird between oncoming sets of pipes. Though simply designed, it poses great challenges to players.
IT experts have told Vietnamplus that the game’s success in terms of download and revenue is the pride of the Vietnamese developer community.
They said this will stimulate local content providers to invest more in the development of applications to reach the world’s users.
In fact, many games imitating Flappy Bird have appeared, featuring birds or bees with similar motif. After Flappy Bird’s removal, at least two or three such games made their way into the list of the top 10 most downloaded free games on App Store. They, of course, cannot compare to Flappy Bird’s global success.
Regarding the rumour that the game may get into legal troubles, some experts affirmed this is groundless. The inheritance of or influence from older games is common, they said
