Days after games creator Dong Nguyen took down the popular Flappy Bird game off of Apple iTunes and Google Play stores, he finally explained why he removed the game.
The 29-year-old Vietnamese native told Forbes in an exclusive interview that the game's addictive nature is what forced him to take it down.
Nguyen told Forbes: "Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed. 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."
The wildly popular Flappy Bird game was taken down from app stores on Feb. 9, 2014.
The games creator gave fans less than 24 hours notice when he tweeted: "I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore."
Nguyen reportedly earned $50,000 a day from ads displayed on Flappy Bird, which ranked number one on both Apple and Android app stores. It had been downloaded over 50 million times.
Nguyen also tweeted that he will not be selling Flappy bird to anyone and that his decision to pull the game is not "anything related to legal issues." He tweeted, " I just cannot keep it anymore."
Though he created the game, Nguyen previously expressed how his own game ruined his life. "I can call 'Flappy Bird' is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it."
The game was launched in May 2013, but its popularity soared in mid-January 2014.
Flappy Birds is a simple tapping game but is very difficult and addictive.
Many Flappy Bird copycats and alternative options to the game have emerged since the game's demise.
Many also took advantage of the game's popularity and put up their Flappy-bird installed smartphones for sale on eBay. One such device was spotted selling for $100,000.
Flappy Birds is a notoriously difficult game to play, and many cheats and tips to achieve higher scores have cropped up online, advising players on how to jailbreak the game to get higher scores or remove the pipes to make tapping the bird across the screen easier.
