Apple, Google clamp down on Flappy Bird clones; reject games with 'Flappy' in the name

New Delhi: In order to cash in on the popularity of the now-defunct Flappy Bird game, other developers are apparently coming up with games with the word "Flappy" in the title, but it seems that Google and Apple are cracking down on them and are preventing the clones from hitting the Play Store and App Store, respectively.

Ken Carpenter, from studio Mind Juice Media, tweeted that Apple had rejected his game "Flappy Dragon", telling him "we found your app name attempts to leverage a popular app."

Not only Apple's App Store, his game "Flappy Bird" was also removed from the Gooogle Play Store. Google told Carpenter "do not use irrelevant, misleading, or excessive keywords in apps descriptions, titles, or metadata," said The Verge.

When he submitted the game again, the app was again rejected. He could only go through the process smoothly after he changed the name of the game to Derpy Dragon, which is currently available to download, said The Verge quoting Carpenter as saying.

After Carpenter tweeted his concern, responses started pouring in from other developers too, saying they had also received similar responses from both Apple and Google.

According to The Verge, a spokesperson from Apple posited the company intends to prevent customers/users from getting duped by any kind of trickery, and thus, the company is rejecting games with "flappy" in the name.