Dong Nguyen has revealed that he pulled his mobile smash hit Flappy Bird from the App Store because it had become "an addictive product."

Speaking about the game's removal in an interview with Forbes, the creator of Flappy Bird claims that it was the unexpectedly addictive quality of the game which led to its demise.

"Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed," Nguyen explains in the interview.

"But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it's best to take down Flappy Bird."

Despite being released in May 2013, Flappy Bird didn't make an impression on the App Store charts until last week. Though no one is precisely sure why the game went viral when it did, its simple mechanic - tap the screen to guide a bird through a series of pipe barriers - struck a universal chord.

The game became so popular that, at the time of its removal, it was generating an estimated $50,000 per day via in-app advertising. Nguyen refused to give a precise figure, he did confirm that the ad revenue was "a lot."

Though the Vietnanise developer thanked Flappy Bird's fans for playing the game, he insists that the game won't be returning to the App Store, and is "gone forever."

However, Nguyen says he feels "more confident" as a result of the game's success, and will continue to make more games in the future.