Flappy Bird's Controversies: Dong Nguyen Suicide, Death Threats and More!
The Flappy Bird phenomenon is clearly out of hand that other Web site such as huzlers.com is making up stories that the popular app's developer committed suicide due the increasing demand of users. The same website that spread the news about a Chicago teen who killed his brother over the "Flappy Bird" game.
The nasty rumor about Nguyen's suicide went viral after they sensationalized the Chicago teen killing and after the developer's plan of pulling out the game from the app stores. The ridiculously popular game has exploded online the past weeks and claimed the top spot in both iOS and Android app stores in US, U.K. and China.
Putting Facebook's Paper app to shame, Flappy Bird's simplicity is what attracted many users to the game. Based on the app's income, Flappy Bird is reportedly earning USD50, 000 per day from advertisements alone, and not to mention other fees for the apps. This is a dream come true for most developers who are aiming for a big shot, but in this case not for Nguyen.
The Hanoi-based developer shocked everyone on Saturday when he decided to pull the game out of the app stores and tweeted "I cannot take this anymore." Thanks to apps addictive quality, many users are very frustrated and created a lot of controversy about a game that is so simple but very frustrating to play.
The game is a no brainer, all you have to do is tap the screen to keep the bird flying and once you hit the obstacle your bird dies. You can gain points for keeping your bird alive for as long as possible but in most cases you can't barely pass the first stage which makes it annoying and addictive at the same time.
Due to the overwhelming popularity and increasing demand for the game, many game sites are starting to rip it apart. Some accused the Vietnamese developer of tricking the app stores into giving his game a high app-store ranking, and now the joke about him committing suicide.
A woman even sent him a photo with a gun in her mouth and posted a message: "@dongatory if you delete flappy bird I'll kill myself."
The news about Dong Nguyen pulling out the game also sparked some wild reactions and death threats among users. Others also claimed that the news is only a publicity stunt, his tweets about pulling out the game went viral and earned him 50k followers. A pure genius!
The rumors about Dong's suicide and him pulling out the game also attracted some ebay users. Owners of smartphones with Flappy Bird installed started auctioning their phones and one listing managed to attract bids of up to US$90, 000.