3. Flappy Bird Gets Removed From App Stores
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Game over. Flappy Bird was one of gaming's biggest surprise success stories of the last couple of years, despite its extreme simplicity. However, it somehow became the most popular title across both the Android and Apple app stores, with its mix of high difficulty and compulsive, addictive qualities. Created in just two days by creator Dong Nguyen, Flappy Bird was making an estimated $50,000 a day, just from advertising revenue. An overnight phenomenon, people were sharing their Flappy Bird high scores and frustrations worldwide. Until, that is, when Nguyen suddenly decided to remove the game from all online app stores.
Initially, many suspected that the removal was due to legal issues, with the game's art assets strongly resembling those seen in Nintendo's Mario series. However, Nguyen quickly denied such rumours, stating that he removed it because it ruined his "simple life", and he couldn't "take this anymore." Fortunately for Flappy fanatics, he confirmed a few months later that he would be bringing the game back with some changes, although no date has been set.