Flappy Bird was a wildly popular game!
- made $50K/day
- downloaded 50M times
- topped the charts in 100 countries
But, overnight the startup was shut down.
REASON => The game was too addictive!
Let's find out how a VIRAL HIT game disappeared in a day ๐งต
- made $50K/day
- downloaded 50M times
- topped the charts in 100 countries
But, overnight the startup was shut down.
REASON => The game was too addictive!
Let's find out how a VIRAL HIT game disappeared in a day ๐งต
Structure:
1. What is Flappy Bird?
2. Origins of Flappy Bird
3. Flappy Bird's quick rise
4. But, why was it deleted?
5. What do we learn?
1. What is Flappy Bird?
2. Origins of Flappy Bird
3. Flappy Bird's quick rise
4. But, why was it deleted?
5. What do we learn?
1/ What is Flappy Bird?
- Flappy Bird is a video game where users control the bird โFabyโ so it doesn't hit the pipes in the gameplay.
- It became the most downloaded game on the App Store with $50K/day revenue!
- But, at its peak, Flappy Bird was suddenly shut down.
- Flappy Bird is a video game where users control the bird โFabyโ so it doesn't hit the pipes in the gameplay.
- It became the most downloaded game on the App Store with $50K/day revenue!
- But, at its peak, Flappy Bird was suddenly shut down.
2/ Origins of Flappy Bird
Flappy Bird's founder, Dong Nguyen, was a huge gaming geek from a young age.
He was introduced to video games with Super Mario and immediately he was hooked.
He started coding his own games at 16 and went on to make a career in the field.
(contd)
Flappy Bird's founder, Dong Nguyen, was a huge gaming geek from a young age.
He was introduced to video games with Super Mario and immediately he was hooked.
He started coding his own games at 16 and went on to make a career in the field.
(contd)
In 2012, Nguyen developed a character named 'Faby' for a completely different game.
Unfortunately, that game never saw the light of day.
But, fortunately, for Nguyen, he could repurpose the character to create his own game!
(contd.)
Unfortunately, that game never saw the light of day.
But, fortunately, for Nguyen, he could repurpose the character to create his own game!
(contd.)
The first seed of inspiration came in from Angry Birds โ the most popular game at that time.
Nguyen thought the game was too complicated with the perfectly angled slings and projectile motions.
So, he built Angry Birdsโ distant but better cousin โ Flappy Bird!
Nguyen thought the game was too complicated with the perfectly angled slings and projectile motions.
So, he built Angry Birdsโ distant but better cousin โ Flappy Bird!
3/ Flappy Bird's quick rise!
Flappy Bird was released in May 2013. And, during the first few months, the downloads moved at a snail's pace.
That was until mega-Youtuber PewDiePie reviewed Flappy Bird.
Overnight, the game became a VIRAL HIT!
(contd.)
Flappy Bird was released in May 2013. And, during the first few months, the downloads moved at a snail's pace.
That was until mega-Youtuber PewDiePie reviewed Flappy Bird.
Overnight, the game became a VIRAL HIT!
(contd.)
In January 2014, it topped the iOS App Store charts and was the most downloaded app by the end of the month.
It started earning $50,000 per day!
So, if the game continued to make $50K per day, it would reach $1B+ in revenue in a year!
It started earning $50,000 per day!
So, if the game continued to make $50K per day, it would reach $1B+ in revenue in a year!
4/ Flappy Bird gets deleted!
Following the success of the iOS version, Nguyen released Flappy Bird's android version on January 30th.
But, within 9 days of the release, Nguyen announced on Twitter that he would be taking down Flappy Bird from all platforms.
Following the success of the iOS version, Nguyen released Flappy Bird's android version on January 30th.
But, within 9 days of the release, Nguyen announced on Twitter that he would be taking down Flappy Bird from all platforms.
5/ But, why was Flappy Bird deleted!?
The sudden removal of a wildly popular game came as a HUGE shock!
People also wondered if there were any legal or copyright issues.
Well, turns out, NO.
(contd.)
The sudden removal of a wildly popular game came as a HUGE shock!
People also wondered if there were any legal or copyright issues.
Well, turns out, NO.
(contd.)
In a Forbes interview, Nguyen states that the reason behind deleting the app was the game's addictive nature.
Nguyen was extremely bothered by the negative ramifications of how addictive Flappy Bird was.
He was losing sleep over the guilt of creating such an app.
(contd.)
Nguyen was extremely bothered by the negative ramifications of how addictive Flappy Bird was.
He was losing sleep over the guilt of creating such an app.
(contd.)
The shutdown also came with a huge backlash from fans.
So, Nguyen completely went offline and took refuge at his parent's place.
In August 2014, he released a less addictive version of Flappy Birds called "Flappy Birds Family".
So, Nguyen completely went offline and took refuge at his parent's place.
In August 2014, he released a less addictive version of Flappy Birds called "Flappy Birds Family".
4/ So, what do we learn?
Flappy Bird's failure story is quite peculiar.
Unlike other startups that failed because of poor performance, Nguyen actually shut down Flappy Bird because it was doing too well.
(contd.)
Flappy Bird's failure story is quite peculiar.
Unlike other startups that failed because of poor performance, Nguyen actually shut down Flappy Bird because it was doing too well.
(contd.)
Many startups push to make their apps more addictive, and Flappy Bird had the potential of making billions.
Some may argue that it was foolish to shut down such a successful app over trivial concerns.
Especially when the app store is filled with addictive games.
(contd.)
Some may argue that it was foolish to shut down such a successful app over trivial concerns.
Especially when the app store is filled with addictive games.
(contd.)
Now, the ethics of this matter are debatable. But, Nguyen was clear that he didnโt want to cause such large-scale addiction.
๐ก Lesson โ All startups don't have to become unicorns. Buildd something that can give you the lifestyle you desire and the happiness you seek.
๐ก Lesson โ All startups don't have to become unicorns. Buildd something that can give you the lifestyle you desire and the happiness you seek.
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