Flappy Bird developer confirms “it’s gone forever”

Flappy Bird recently attracted quite a bit of attention. As such, the game climbed the ranks, and was deemed a success by many. Well, maybe more accurately, Flappy Bird was deemed to be addictive. The game was then said to be taking in nearly $50,000 per day from in-app advertisements, which makes this next bit somewhat surprising.

This past weekend, developer Dong Nguyen announced he was going to pull the game from the Play Store (as well as the iOS App Store). True to that word, the game was removed. While some may have been hoping to see a return, judging from some recent comments from Nguyen, it doesn’t appear as if that will be happening.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Nguyen said the game “was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed.” Touching back on that addictive nature, Nguyen went on to mention how it “became an addictive product” and how he felt that was a problem that needed to be solved. Hence the reason for the initial removal. Nguyen also mentioned that Flappy Bird is “gone forever.”

Aside from the game being removed due to the addictive nature, there had been some speculation surrounding Nintendo. Anyone who has played Super Mario Bros will likely see the similarities, however Nguyen denied any legal threat from Nintendo. He also mentioned how those similarities were nothing but coincidence. In the end, and regardless of the real reason for removal — Flappy Bird is gone, and will remain unavailable.

Of course, as we mentioned yesterday, there are some alternatives available. Several clone games have sprung up since the removal, and there is even an option to play in a browser. Nguyen spoke a bit about the clones, acknowledging how he even “tried playing Ironpants” and it was “a good game.” And in a bit of good news for those who have published clones, it doesn’t appear as if Nguyen has any plans for legal action.