Flappy Bird creator says he's pulling game from stores (update)

In less than 22 hours, mobile game Flappy Bird will be removed from stores, creator Dong Nguyen announced via Twitter on Saturday afternoon.

I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore.

— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014

It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore.

— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014

Nguyen later tweeted that he didn't sell Flappy Bird and will continue to make games. The game maker's decision comes one day after the title was updated to include new birds and new UI elements. The update also removed a "share" button from Flappy Bird's "game over" screen.

Since its release, the mobile title has been downloaded more than 50 million times. It pulls in an average of $50,000 in ad revenue a day. Flappy Bird features minimalistic controls and requires players to shoot a bird through a maze of pipes.

Flappy Bird's surprise success drew allegations that Nguyen employed bots to boost the game's ranking in Apple's App Store. When asked about those allegations, Nguyen told a Newsweek reporter on Twitter, "It doesn't matter. Don't you think? If I did fake it, should Apple let it live for months?"

Nguyen said earlier this week he did not want attention from the media, tweeting, "Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace."

We've reached out to Nguyen for comment and will update accordingly. For more on Flappy Bird, check out our discussion of the game on Friends List.

Update: Flappy Bird is no longer available on Google Play or the App Store.