We imagine that many of you by now have broken your iPhones, caused your friends to smash up their Android tablets and woken your mums/partners up at 1am when you've beaten your score. What's this about, you ask? Flappy Bird, of course.
Over the last month, the most simple concept has taken the mobile gaming market by storm, Flappy Bird has been top of the App Store and Google Play listings for the past month, and it doesn't seem like it's going to budge any time soon.
What's that!? some of you haven't played Flappy Bird?! WHAT'S FLAPPY BIRD?! Well, here goes; you play as a bird (it feels more like a flying brick), and... well, you flap. Tapping the screen makes your brick go higher, not tapping causes it to hit the ground. The aim is to fly through pipes - each pipe earns you a point.
Now we guess you're wondering why folk would break their smart devices over Flappy Bird? Well, it's difficult. Very difficult.
Maybe that's what keeps us hooked? Who knows. What we do know is that, according to Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen, Flappy Bird is now generating $50,000 per day through ad revenue... not bad, considering Nguyen developed it over a few nights when he got home from work.
Here's what he said about the game: "The reason Flappy Bird is so popular is that it happens to be something different from mobile games today, and is a really good game to compete against each other. People in the same classroom can play and compete easily because [Flappy Bird] is simple to learn, but you need skill to get a high score.
"Flappy Bird has reached a state where anything added to the game will ruin it somehow, so I'd like to leave it as is. I will think about a sequel but I'm not sure about the timeline.
"I want to make an ads-based game because it is very common in the Japanese market — mini games are free and have ads."
This is the part of the article where we want to hear your stories (well, read them...). What's your high score? How many of you have sort-of thrown your phone at the wall? Leave us a comment below!
Over the last month, the most simple concept has taken the mobile gaming market by storm, Flappy Bird has been top of the App Store and Google Play listings for the past month, and it doesn't seem like it's going to budge any time soon.
What's that!? some of you haven't played Flappy Bird?! WHAT'S FLAPPY BIRD?! Well, here goes; you play as a bird (it feels more like a flying brick), and... well, you flap. Tapping the screen makes your brick go higher, not tapping causes it to hit the ground. The aim is to fly through pipes - each pipe earns you a point.
Now we guess you're wondering why folk would break their smart devices over Flappy Bird? Well, it's difficult. Very difficult.
Maybe that's what keeps us hooked? Who knows. What we do know is that, according to Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen, Flappy Bird is now generating $50,000 per day through ad revenue... not bad, considering Nguyen developed it over a few nights when he got home from work.
Here's what he said about the game: "The reason Flappy Bird is so popular is that it happens to be something different from mobile games today, and is a really good game to compete against each other. People in the same classroom can play and compete easily because [Flappy Bird] is simple to learn, but you need skill to get a high score.
"Flappy Bird has reached a state where anything added to the game will ruin it somehow, so I'd like to leave it as is. I will think about a sequel but I'm not sure about the timeline.
"I want to make an ads-based game because it is very common in the Japanese market — mini games are free and have ads."
This is the part of the article where we want to hear your stories (well, read them...). What's your high score? How many of you have sort-of thrown your phone at the wall? Leave us a comment below!
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Comments
Bob 7 Feb 2014 17:42
1/2
I doubt this is true. If you get $5 per thousand downloads and it has 10 million downloads. Then all together it has earned $50,000. That's for ALL TIME.
Ethan 7 Feb 2014 22:54
2/2
@Bob He doesn't get payed at all per download. He gets payed from the ads that run on the games, just as you would with a website. As far as Apple is concerned, his app doesn't make him any money. He gets payed through a third party ad network.