Stolen, the people-trading app, shuts down

The app became a viral hit but is no longer available in the app store after criticism from commentators

Stolen, the controversial online game that allows players to trade using representations of Twitter accounts, has closed doors, effective immediately.

The app had become a viral hit, despite never becoming more than an invite-only service, with tens of thousands of users and a constant clamour for invitation codes from others. But it had also faced an increasing amount of criticism over the nature of its game, which involves playing at buying and selling the Twitter accounts of real people - most of whom had never signed up to the game.