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Flappy Bird was removed in February 2014 by its creator, Dong Nguyen, not by a publisher or by Nintendo. His stated reason was that the game had become addictive and was having a negative effect on the people playing it. He also said the sudden fame and attention made his life uncomfortable, and he explicitly said the decision was not about legal issues.
Who made the decision and how it was announced
Nguyen announced the removal himself on February 8, 2014. His public post, as quoted by MacRumors that day, said: “I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.” He added: “It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore.” He also said he would not sell the app, so the game was withdrawn rather than transferred to another owner.
The 22-hour window was the only notice players got, which is why the removal looked abrupt in the coverage of the time.
The reason he gave: harm to players
Nguyen’s explanation changed little across the interviews he gave in the days after the announcement. The core point was that he believed the game was affecting the people who played it.
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“The negative effect to my players”
In an email interview with The Washington Post, published February 11, 2014, Nguyen gave the clearest version of his reason: “The main reason of removing ‘Flappy Bird’ is the negative effect to my players.” He said the game had caused “unexpected addiction” and that he could not bear to see it continue.
“An addictive product”
In an interview with Forbes, reproduced by Ars Technica on February 11, 2014, Nguyen described the game as designed for short, relaxed play that had become something else. His words were: “But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.” GameSpot also quoted the Forbes interview. The sequence matters: he framed removal as the remedy for a problem he believed the game had created, not as a commercial decision.
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The personal pressure behind the decision
Nguyen also described the strain that came with the game’s success. In the Forbes interview, as reported by Ars Technica, he said his life had become less comfortable and that he could not sleep. A March 2014 report summarizing a Rolling Stone interview described extensive press coverage and unwanted attention around his home city of Hanoi. The same report said he received messages from players and parents who felt the game was being overused, and that taking it down brought him relief.
These accounts are useful context for how he felt, but they are not a substitute for the reason he stated directly. The player-harm explanation is the one he gave in his own words in February. The later report also reaches readers through a summary of an interview, so its details are one step removed from his original remarks. The messages from players and parents are individual anecdotes relayed by the reporter, not measured evidence of how widespread overuse was.
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The Nintendo rumor
Some observers speculated that Nintendo had threatened legal action, on the theory that the game’s green pipes resembled those in Nintendo’s Mario games. The contemporaneous statements do not support that account. Nguyen’s February 8 post said the removal was not related to legal issues. TIME’s February 10, 2014 coverage quoted Nintendo as saying it “did not contact the creator of [Flappy Bird]. We also did not seek its removal from the marketplace.”
Both parties’ statements from that week contradict the pressure story. Nothing in the 2014 coverage shows Nintendo forcing the game off the market.
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What each source establishes
| Source | Date | Who is speaking | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nguyen’s public post, quoted by MacRumors | February 8, 2014 | Nguyen | Announcement, 22-hour notice, no sale, not related to legal issues |
| Email interview, The Washington Post | February 11, 2014 | Nguyen | Main reason: negative effect on players |
| Forbes interview, reproduced by Ars Technica and quoted by GameSpot | February 11, 2014 | Nguyen | Game became addictive; removal framed as the solution; he could not sleep and felt his life had become less comfortable |
| TIME coverage | February 10, 2014 | Nintendo statement; reported download count | Nintendo said it did not contact the creator or seek removal; 50 million downloads reported before removal |
| Report summarizing a Rolling Stone interview | March 2014 | Nguyen, via the reporter | Press attention and unwanted attention in Hanoi; messages from players and parents; removal brought relief |
The 50 million download figure
TIME reported that Flappy Bird had 50 million downloads before it was removed, in its coverage dated February 10, 2014. That is a count reported at the time, not an audited figure, and it reflects downloads up to the removal date rather than any later total.
What the 2014 coverage does not settle
- Later availability. The reporting covers the removal in 2014. It does not establish whether the app has been available on any store, or re-released, in later years, so check current stores directly before assuming either way.
- Addiction across players. No named study or statistic on game addiction was identified for this question. The explanation rests on Nguyen’s own account and anecdotes from interviews, so it describes his concern, not a measured health finding about the game or its players.
- Motive beyond his statements. Nguyen’s statements are the primary evidence for why he removed the game. Speculation about other motives, including legal pressure, is not supported by the statements from that week.
The answer to the question is therefore straightforward: Nguyen removed the game because he believed it was harming players, and he was uncomfortable with the attention that came with its success. The Nintendo explanation is not supported by the contemporaneous record.
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