Flappy Bird has removed from app stores

Flappy Bird, a smartphone game which became a big hit, is no longer available on the App Store or Google Play.

Vietnamese creator Dong Nguyen wrote on Twitter at the weekend that the game's success "ruins my simple life".

"I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore," he Tweeted.

Nguyen told The Verge last week that the game was making US $50,000 a day, and has been downloaded at least 50 million times across both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Its success has drawn a lot of scrutiny, with some accusing Nguyen of appropriating assets from Nintendo IPs. which to be fair seems likely just by looking at the game.

Nguyen preempted assumptions that Flappy Bird's removal is for legal reasons though. "It is not anything related to legal issues," he Tweeted. "I just cannot keep it anymore."

Flappy Bird has a lot of copycat games since its success

These include titles such as 'Flappy Octopus', 'Clumsy Bird' and 'Flappy Angry Bird'.

The free-to-play game requires users to navigate a bird through endlessly approaching and randomly generated pipes.