True to his word, Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen pulled the hit mobile game from app stores yesterday. That means if you hadn't already downloaded and installed the title for your phone or tablet, you're out of luck... or are you?
Many are being led to believe that if you're willing to spend some serious money, you can still get your hands on the addictive game over on eBay by simply purchasing an iPhone with the game preinstalled. The idea alone may sound silly but people appear to be shelling out a ridiculous amount of money for otherwise ordinary devices.
Or at least, that's what someone wants you to think.
A quick check of eBay's "sold" listings does reveal several phones with the game installed that appear to have been sold. Digging deeper, however, I discovered that every listing was won with either a single bid at an outrageous price or through Buy It Now. Furthermore, the accounts used to sell the phones are very questionable. Several have a feedback score of fewer than three while the majority are new accounts with zero feedback.
Or in other words, the whole thing sounds bogus at best. Buy why?
I can see one of two possibilities playing out here. Either someone or a couple of people are trying to scam others out of a quick buck with phony eBay ads or what's more likely, someone is simply trying to drum up interest for the game / create a market for Flappy Bird-installed phones that doesn't yet exist.