- Nguyen Ha Dong, a Vietnamese game developer, announced on Twitter Saturday that he would take down his game Flappy Birds
- Developer has received death threats on Twitter for pulling the app
- The game was the most popular free mobile game on Apple App Store
- Dong wrote that he removed the game not for legal reasons but because he 'cannot take this anymore'
- He reportedly made about $50,000 a day from the free game from advertising
- Dong created Flappy Bird, inspired by Mario Bros, by himself in a few nights
By Reuters and Mark Prigg
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Phones preloaded with the hit game Flappy Bird are being listed for as much as $20,000 on eBay today after the app was deleted.
The developer of Flappy Bird, which was the most popular free mobile game on Apple App Store and Google's Android Play store, removed the game from the online stores on the weekend.
Today it was revealed he had received a barrage of death threats on Twitter, as players who missed their chance appear to be willing to pay a huge premium on eBay for the game.
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Unexpected: The simple game became a surprise hit and is currently the most popular mobile game on the App Store
If you missed your chance to download the mobile sensation Flappy Bird, don't worry - but be prepared to a pay a lot. Phones preloaded with the game are being listed for up to $20,000 on eBay.
THE FLAPPY BIRD PHENOMENON
 Flappy Bird caused a sensation after rising out of obscurity to become one of the most downloaded mobile games on both Apple and Google's online stores.
Users have to steer a bird between green pipes.
The Android version has been downloaded up to 50 million times, and attracted more than half a million reviews.
It also topped the Apple download charts, although figures have not been released for the iOS version.
There were over 4500 iPhones with the game loaded on them listed on eBay this morning, with prices up to $20,300.
Nguyen Ha Dong, a Vietnamese, Hanoi-based game developer, announced the grounding of the addictive game in a Tweet at 1900 GMT on Saturday in which he also apologized to Flappy Bird players.
'22 hours from now, I will take "Flappy Bird" down,' Dong said adding: 'It is not anything related to legal issues.'
'I cannot take this anymore,' he wrote.
The move led to a barrage of abuse, including one tweeter who messaged: “YOU BEST NOT BE DELETING FLAPPY BIRD BECAUSE I WILL MURDER YOU IF U DO.â€
while another told Dong “I’ll find you and i’ll kill you.â€
Flappy Bird caused a sensation after rising out of obscurity to become one of the most downloaded mobile games on both Apple and Google's online stores.
Users have to steer a bird between green pipes.
The Android version has been downloaded up to 50 million times, and attracted more than half a million reviews.
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Many people have been questioning Dong on Twitter about his decision to take down the game as only a day earlier he had been talking about developing the game for Microsoft's Windows phones.
Nguyen Ha Dong, the author of the game Flappy Bird, has pulled his creation from online stores after announcing that its runaway success had ruined his 'simple life'
Dong could not be reached for comment.
He had turned his telephone off after cancelling an interview with Reuters on Thursday and not finalizing arrangements for one on Friday.
Unlike other successful game makers such as Rovio Entertainment, which produced the hugely popular Angry Birds game and has hundreds of programmers, Dong made Flappy Bird by himself in a few nights, he said on Twitter earlier.Â
Removal: Dong doesn't explain in any further detail why he's decided to take down his popular game
The game, which he said was inspired by Nintendo's Mario Bros, had been earning on average $50,000 a day from advertising, Dong said in a media interview.
Two friends of Dong said Nintendo had sent him a warning letter.
However the Japanese game maker said it was not considering a lawsuit.
'It sounds very much like a rumor, and if it is, we certainly can't comment on that,' Nintendo's media representative told Reuters on Friday.
One gaming company manager said Dong's decision to take down the game was wise.
'Dong is taking one step back to avoid legal risk because it's too difficult to deal with legal issues himself if it happens,' said Duy Doan, a senior manager at VTC Online, one of Vietnam's leading game companies.
Addictive: Players must guide birds between green tubes
The end: Dong does not appear to be selling the game to a game development company
'Dong said earlier that he was not looking for any investors and would not sell the game. One expert said investors would not be interested.
'Flappy Bird is not to the taste of many game investors because it's just hit-based which will bring very uncertain cash flow and no recurring,' said Nguyen Hieu Linh, investment manager at the Japanese CyberAgent Ventures Inc.
'I doubt he needs to fund raise as he's already earned a certain amount of money and he doesn't need more help to make this kind of mini game,' Linh added.
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