Flappy Bird will return to the app store, ‘but not soon’

LONDON — Flappy Bird is set to return to iPhone and Android app stores, its Vietnamese developer has confirmed.

In response to requests for a download of the free game — which started a craze and generated around US$50,000 (S$64,000) a day in advertising revenue at its peak — Mr Dong Nguyen tweeted that Flappy Bird would be made available via the App Store “but not soon”.

Flappy Bird was removed from Apple’s App Store as well as the Google Play store for Android in February after Mr Nguyen was seemingly overwhelmed by the popularity of the game.

Nintendo also denied allegations that a legal challenge from the company, over artwork in Flappy Bird that resembled Nintendo’s Mario games, was responsible for the removal of the app from sale.

The removal of Flappy Bird from sale prompted hundreds of clone apps to be released on the various app stores, as well as phones being offered for thousands of dollars on eBay with their main selling point being pre-installed copies of the game.

Mr Nguyen hinted that Flappy Bird could return to smartphones in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine this month. The developer said that an updated version of the game, with a warning to take regular breaks, could be released after he received abuse and threats over the removal. THE GUARDIAN