Flappy Bird enthusiasts have a reason to rejoice. Media shy Dong Nguyen, creator of the popular game, told CNBC‘s Kelly Evans on Wednesday that he will relaunch the game in August. It will offer multiplayer capabilities, and will be “less addictive,” Nguyen added. The game was abruptly taken down from the app stores in early February. Popularity of the game could be gauged by the fact that Dong Nguyen began receiving death threats from players for removing the game.
Certain tweaks will make new Flappy Bird less addictive
Flappy Bird was the No.1 mobile game in the world with more than 50 million worldwide downloads. During an interview in March, Nguyen revealed that he was making more than $50,000 per day from ads. When he deleted the game from app store, many called it a publicity stunt. Enthusiasts raced to download Flappy Bird before it was removed.
As soon as the reports of Flappy Bird’s removal surfaced, dozens of clones appeared on the Google Play Store and App Store to capitalize on the popularity of Nguyen’s game. At its peak, more than 60 Flappy Bird clones were launched on the app stores every day. Dong Nguyen told CNBC that the new Flappy Bird will come with multiplayer functionality and tweaks that will make the game less addictive. But it’s still unclear whether it will be an entirely new download or just an update to the old copy.
Nguyen doesn’t regret creating Flappy Bird
Dong Nguyen said he removed the game because it had become too addictive for users. He would frequently receive troubling messages from players about Flappy Bird’s addictiveness. Once a woman told Nguyen that he was “distracting the children of the world.” He felt a lot of pressure from the sudden success, fame and fortune. But the guy isn’t exactly a zen monk. He deleted only one game that was “too addictive” for users. His other popular games such as Shuriken Block remain online.
Anyway, the Vietnamese native doesn’t regret creating Flappy Bird. He is currently working on many more games, including the one that has “a guy jumping from building to building.”
