By now gamers all over the world have likely heard of Flappy Bird, the mobile sensation that featured a familiar art style and punishingly simple gameplay. But what about Dong Nguyen, the game's creator; what do people know about him?

While few could recognize Nguyen as Flappy Bird's creator after the game gained popularity, they sure knew his name once he threatened to remove the game from mobile app stores. Then, when Nguyen actually made good on his promise, and the game subsequently disappeared, his story became even more interesting. Unfortunately, once the deed was done Nguyen wasn't interested in saying much more on the matter.

Now a few weeks later, Rolling Stone has caught up with Dong Nguyen and found out (through a translator) a little more about why the developer took Flappy Bird offline, what future projects he has in the works, and even whether or not Flappy Bird might return. And what he has to say about that might come as a surprise. But first, the why of it all.

According to Nguyen the decision to remove Flappy Bird stemmed mostly from the tremendous amount of hate mail and death threats he received. As the developer explains, messages were flying in day and night chastising Nguyen for creating the game and for the impact it was having on those who played it. Some gamers, for example, were damaging their phones out of frustration, while still feeling the need to return to Flappy Bird to fuel their addiction.

Ultimately, Nguyen couldn't bear the attention and the hate mail much longer, and made the decision to remove the game. This was even while Flappy Bird generated some $50,000 a day in income for Nguyen.

Clearly, Nguyen is a passionate developer who hopes that each product is as successful as Flappy Bird. But, he'd rather find success with something that makes gamers happy than something that draws their endless ire. Thousands of mobile developers however, were willing to pick up where Nguyen left off, adding dozens upon dozens of Flappy Bird clones into the market.

But while Flappy Fish, Flappy Cupid, and Fall Out Bird are all trying to capitalize on Flappy Bird's success, Dong Nguyen has moved on. He has several games in development, three in particular that he hopes offer a similar experience to Flappy Bird — i.e. a retro art style and a deceptively simple but challenging concept.

And, for those that might be wondering, it appears Nguyen isn't totally averse to the idea of bringing Flappy Bird back. He tells RS that he's "considering it," but recommends that players don't consume the game so voraciously if it returns.

While the Flappy Bird story might be coming to a close it appears Dong Nguyen's next chapter is only just beginning. The developer is now slowly embracing his newfound fame and will likely try to use that to introduce people to future projects.

Would you like to see Flappy Bird return? Do you think that the fad has passed?

-

Source: Rolling Stone