Flappy Bird removed from online stores

Popular game for mobile devices Flappy Bird was removed from online stores on Sunday by its Vietnamese creator, who said its fame “ruins my simple life”.

Dong Nguyen, who created the game in just two to three days, was making as much as $50,000 a day from the game’s advertising revenue.

In several Twitter posts, he said the game’s removal was not due to legal issues and that he may make a sequel.

Dong Nguyen, who describes himself as a “passionate indie game maker”, also said on the micro-blogging site that he will not sell Flappy Bird but that he will still make games.

Flappy Bird has been downloaded more than 50 million times, making it this year’s most popular mobile game so far.

Launched in May 2013, the game was free to download and required players to tap the screen to keep the bird in flight.

Despite its simple graphics, Flappy Bird was a notoriously difficult game since many users could only keep the bird in the air for a few seconds before it hits an obstacle and falls.

The game went viral after being promoted almost entirely by social media users and was reviewed on a YouTube channel by more than 22 million subscribers.

Flappy Bird official version was only available for Apple and Android devices. It quickly became the number one free game in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store charts.