Flappy Bird’s creator Nguyen Ha Dong has explained that he took down thesmash-hit game from Apple’s App Store and Google Play as it failed tobring excitement to players as he had expected.
In his owninterview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s VietnamPlus e-newspaper, the29-year-old independent game developer shared that he felt very happywhen his game became popular worldwide.
However, Dongencountered problems with the game when he started receiving manycomplaints 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 animitation, but I felt that Flappy Bird may bring negative results,” headded.
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 DeputyPrime Minister Vu Duc Dam during their talks on February 11.
Deputy PM Dam was the first person the game developer met after hepulled the game from online stores. Dong then granted interviews withtwo foreign newspapers.
He said his parents didn’t knowanything about the game until it was widely covered by the media. Hesaid 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 gamefrom Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Dong’s decision wastweeted 22 hours earlier. Some people thought this may be a PR stunt,others advised Dong not to act spontaneously. Meanwhile, some said hemade the right decision.
The world leading game producerNintendo raised its voice on the game on February 10 for the first time,after opinions that Flappy Bird's simple graphics appeared to owe somedebt 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 thenumber one game in both Apple’s App Store and Google Play frommid-January this year.
According to some technologywebsites, the reason why the game spread so fast could be attributed tothe fact that it disappointed players.
Flappy Bird features2D retro-style graphics. The aim of the game is to direct a flying birdbetween oncoming sets of pipes. Though simply designed, it poses greatchallenges to players.
IT experts have told Vietnamplusthat the game’s success in terms of download and revenue is the pride ofthe Vietnamese developer community.
They said this willstimulate local content providers to invest more in the development ofapplications to reach the world’s users.
In fact, many gamesimitating Flappy Bird have appeared, featuring birds or bees withsimilar motif. After Flappy Bird’s removal, at least two or three suchgames made their way into the list of the top 10 most downloaded freegames on App Store. They, of course, cannot compare to Flappy Bird’sglobal success.
Regarding the rumour that the game may getinto legal troubles, some experts affirmed this is groundless. Theinheritance of or influence from older games is common, they said.-VNA
In his owninterview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s VietnamPlus e-newspaper, the29-year-old independent game developer shared that he felt very happywhen his game became popular worldwide.
However, Dongencountered problems with the game when he started receiving manycomplaints 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 animitation, but I felt that Flappy Bird may bring negative results,” headded.
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 DeputyPrime Minister Vu Duc Dam during their talks on February 11.
Deputy PM Dam was the first person the game developer met after hepulled the game from online stores. Dong then granted interviews withtwo foreign newspapers.
He said his parents didn’t knowanything about the game until it was widely covered by the media. Hesaid 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 gamefrom Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Dong’s decision wastweeted 22 hours earlier. Some people thought this may be a PR stunt,others advised Dong not to act spontaneously. Meanwhile, some said hemade the right decision.
The world leading game producerNintendo raised its voice on the game on February 10 for the first time,after opinions that Flappy Bird's simple graphics appeared to owe somedebt 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 thenumber one game in both Apple’s App Store and Google Play frommid-January this year.
According to some technologywebsites, the reason why the game spread so fast could be attributed tothe fact that it disappointed players.
Flappy Bird features2D retro-style graphics. The aim of the game is to direct a flying birdbetween oncoming sets of pipes. Though simply designed, it poses greatchallenges to players.
IT experts have told Vietnamplusthat the game’s success in terms of download and revenue is the pride ofthe Vietnamese developer community.
They said this willstimulate local content providers to invest more in the development ofapplications to reach the world’s users.
In fact, many gamesimitating Flappy Bird have appeared, featuring birds or bees withsimilar motif. After Flappy Bird’s removal, at least two or three suchgames made their way into the list of the top 10 most downloaded freegames on App Store. They, of course, cannot compare to Flappy Bird’sglobal success.
Regarding the rumour that the game may getinto legal troubles, some experts affirmed this is groundless. Theinheritance of or influence from older games is common, they said.-VNA
